SANTA MONICA—Santa Monica resident, Marcy Winograd, collaborated with Brentwood local, Jackie Hirtz, on tween novel “New Girl on Salt Flat Road,” the second book about tween, Lola Zola. The book follows “Lola Zola and the Lemonade Crush,” the first of the series. It was published by Brown Girls Publishing and released on May 21, 2015.

This story follows sixth grader, Lola, as she races to grow up. Issues Lola face range from body image and mom issues to first crushes. “We hope our Lola Zola series empowers tweens to accept themselves, despite their imperfections,” said Winograd.

Winograd and Hirtz have collaborated before on the Nickelodeon animated series, “Doug,” which was also about an 11-year-old.

“Writing by its very nature is solitary and lonely, so it’s wonderful to collaborate with a partner who compliments your writing style,” said Winograd.

Both women are educators and share the same core values when writing about young people and girls in particular.

Hirtz stated, “…there’s always a message or two about ethics, doing the right thing – about empowering young people to speak their minds, and for girls to embrace who they are, as opposed to an idealized image.”

“You could say Lola Zola is my childhood alter-ego because when I was in 7th grade at Hawthorne School in Beverly Hills, I was quiet and shy,” said Winograd.”  Lola is the girl who speaks up, who protests, who makes us laugh one minute and cry the next.”