Maybe Yes, Maybe No: A Guide for Young Skeptics (Maybe Guides)

2025 MODULO MODULAR LEARNING AWARD SELECTION - CRITICAL THINKING

In today's media-flooded world, there is no way to control all of the information, claims, and enticements that reach young people. The best thing to do is arm them with the sword of critical thinking.Maybe Yes, Maybe No is a charming introduction to self-confidence and self-reliance. The book's ten-year-old heroine, Andrea, is always asking questions because she knows "you should prove the truth of a strange story before you believe it.""Check it out. Repeat the experiment. Try to prove it wrong. It has to make sense." writes Barker, as he assures young readers that they are fully capable of figuring out what to believe, and of knowing when there just isn't enough information to decide. "You can do it your own way. If you are a good skeptic you will know how to think for yourself."

Dan Barker, a former preacher, is copresident of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, cohost of Freethought Radio, and cofounder of The Clergy Project. After 19 years as an evangelical minister, Dan "saw the light" and announced his atheism in 1984. His first public appearance as an atheist was on Oprah Winfrey's "AM Chicago." He travels extensively, lecturing and performing on college campuses, and has participated in more than 120 public debates. Dan is also a jazz pianist and lives with his wife (and copresident) Annie Laurie Gaylor in Madison, Wisconsin. He is a member of the Lenape (Delaware) tribe of American Indians.