WOW Reads

"We had ups." - Gabriel

Worlds of Words Center Middle School and Teen Reading Ambassadors discuss the past academic year as they read and promoted reading together.

As each group read their four novels, we encountered issues around banned books, school libraries, and talking to grownups. We learned about the process of creating and promoting books for young people and are grateful for the diversity brought to us by authors who shared their work with us. Finally, we explore stereotypes of high school and share strategies for time management around reading for fun.

Books and authors mentioned in this episode:
Hailey Alcaraz -- Up In Flames
Donna Barba Higuera -- The Last Cuentista and Alebrijes
Matt McMann -- Monsterious (a bonus book we distributed when we read Clarice the Brave by Lisa McMann)
Matt Mendez -- The Broke Hearts
Zohra Nabi -- The City Beyond the Stars (the sequel to The Kingdom Over the Sea)
Ellen Oh -- The Colliding Worlds of Mina Lee
Adam Rex -- A Little Like Waking
R.L. Stine, the legend who attended the 2023 Tucson Festival of Books

This podcast was recorded in the Digital Innovation and Learning Lab (DIALL) in the UArizona College of Education with assistance from the UA COE Tech Team.

Producer/Host: Rebecca Ballenger, Worlds of Words Center Associate Director
Audio Engineer: Liam Arias, Student Employee and Radio, TV, Film Major
Coordinator: Vianey Torres, Student Employee and Nursing Major

For more information on the WOW Reading Ambassadors, visit wowlit.org (under the About tab).

We Can Promote Global Literature Together!

The Worlds of Words Reading Ambassador program is completely free for participants who receive a book for themselves and a book to share with their school librarian, ELA/English teacher, or other school entity. If you would like to support this program, please make a gift on-line through the University of Arizona Foundation.

Thank you for listening and keep reading!

Join the Worlds of Words Center Middle School and Teen Reading Ambassadors as we discuss A Little Like Waking by Adam Rex.

We open the episode by describing our time with Rex as "meeting a legend in person." We chat about dreams and love and the duality of both. We also discuss getting back on the proverbial bike and whether we need a push off a cliff or to jump on our own.

We failed to talk about the book illustrations in this podcast, so watch for that in our bonus year-end recap episode. Listeners may also hear the shutter of Bob Bingham Photography.

In this episode, we also mention a previous WOW Reads episode with Guadalupe Garcia McCall in which she describes how her characters come to her.

This podcast was recorded in the Digital Innovation and Learning Lab (DIALL) in the UArizona College of Education with assistance from the UA COE Tech Team.

Producer/Host: Rebecca Ballenger, Worlds of Words Center Associate Director
Audio Engineer: Liam Arias, Student Employee and Radio, TV, Film Major
Coordinator: Vianey Torres, Student Employee and Nursing Major

Reading Ambassador Adviser:
Katherine Connover, Retired Educator

For more information on the WOW Reading Ambassadors, visit wowlit.org (under the About tab).

We Can Promote Global Literature Together!

The Worlds of Words Reading Ambassador program is completely free for participants who receive a book for themselves and a book to share with their school librarian, ELA/English teacher, or other school entity. If you would like to support this program, please make a gift on-line through the University of Arizona Foundation.

Thank you for listening and keep reading!

Join the Worlds of Words Center Middle School Reading Ambassadors (MSRAP) as we discuss Alebrijes by Donna Barba Higuera.

In this episode, we discuss

Other books mentioned in this episode:
The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera

We will post Higuera's graph on our Instagram account at the end of the season. Watch for it there at @WOWTeenAmbassadors.

Special shout out to Tucson Festival of Books! Watch for a bonus episode about our experience with the book festival. We are grateful for their work.

This podcast was recorded in the Digital Innovation and Learning Lab (DIALL) in the UArizona College of Education with assistance from the UA COE Tech Team.

Producer/Host: Rebecca Ballenger, Worlds of Words Center Associate Director
Audio Engineer: Liam Arias, Student Employee and Radio, TV, Film Major
Coordinator: Vianey Torres, Student Employee and Nursing Major

For more information on the Worlds of Words Middle School Reading Ambassadors (MSRAP), visit wowlit.org.

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We Can Promote Global Literature Together!

The Worlds of Words Reading Ambassador program is completely free for participants who receive a book for themselves and a book to share with their school librarian, ELA/English teacher, or other school entity. If you would like to support this program, please make a gift on-line through the University of Arizona Foundation.

Thank you for listening and keep reading!

Join the Worlds of Words Center Teen Reading Ambassadors (TRAP) as we discuss The Colliding Worlds of Mina Lee by Ellen Oh.

Meeting Oh sparked our thinking around diversity in books for teens, book bans, ghost stories, and how far we are willing to go with research in service to story telling. There's plenty of Ellen Oh love in this group.

In this episode, we also mention:
Sunshine: a currently unpublished webcomic by Quin
A-Ha's Take On Me video
We Need Diverse Books
Spirit Hunter by Ellen Oh

Special shout out to Tucson Festival of Books! Watch for a bonus episode about our experience with the book festival. We are grateful for their work.

This podcast was recorded in the Digital Innovation and Learning Lab (DIALL) in the UArizona College of Education with assistance from the UA COE Tech Team.

Producer/Host: Rebecca Ballenger, Worlds of Words Center Associate Director
Audio Engineer: Liam Arias, Student Employee and Radio, TV, Film Major
Coordinator: Vianey Torres, Student Employee and Nursing Major

Reading Ambassador Adviser:
Katherine Connover, Retired Educator

For more information on the WOW Teen Reading Ambassadors (TRAP), visit wowlit.org.

We Can Promote Global Literature Together!

The Worlds of Words Reading Ambassador program is completely free for participants who receive a book for themselves and a book to share with their school librarian, ELA/English teacher, or other school entity. If you would like to support this program, please make a gift on-line through the University of Arizona Foundation.

Thank you for listening and keep reading!

Join the Worlds of Words Center Teen Reading Ambassadors (TRAP) as we discuss Up In Flames by Hailey Alcaraz.

We talk retellings in general and this one specifically as well as new-to-us information about the auction process in publishing in this episode of WOW Reads.

Books and other retellings mentioned in this episode:
Anna K by Jenny Lee
Because You Love to Hate Me edited by Amerie
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Iliad by Homer
Malice by Heather Walter
Sherlock (television series), BBC
Summer Lovin' from Grease (a queer remix like this one from One Voice Mixed Chorus)

Behind the scenes, we recommend a viewing of Gone with the Wind to groups reading this book and who have good snacks, a knack for finding similarities and 3 hours and 58 minutes to spare.

This podcast was recorded in the Digital Innovation and Learning Lab (DIALL) in the UArizona College of Education with assistance from the UA COE Tech Team.

Producer/Host: Rebecca Ballenger, Worlds of Words Center Associate Director
Audio Engineer: Liam Arias, Student Employee and Radio, TV, Film Major
Coordinator: Vianey Torres, Student Employee and Nursing Major

Reading Ambassador Advisers:
Samantha Montes, Graduate Assistant
Katherine Connover, Retired Educator

For more information on the WOW Teen Reading Ambassadors (TRAP), visit wowlit.org.

We Can Promote Global Literature Together!

The Worlds of Words Reading Ambassador program is completely free for participants who receive a book for themselves and a book to share with their school librarian, ELA/English teacher, or other school entity. If you would like to support this program, please make a gift on-line through the University of Arizona Foundation.

Thank you for listening and keep reading!

Join the Worlds of Words Center Middle School Reading Ambassadors (MSRAP) as we discuss our experience participating in a mock Randolph Caldecott Medal award event to determine our winner for the most distinguished artist of an American picturebook.

The mock Caldecott event was held in Worlds of Words by Dr. Kathy G. Short and Dr. Desirée Cueto. The American Library Association announced the awards on January 22, 2024, two days after we recorded this episode.

Books mentioned in this episode:
An American Story by Kwame Alexander and Dare Coulter (illus.)
Big by Vashti Harrison
The Skull by Jon Klassen
Jumper by Jessica Lanan
My Powerful Hair by Carole Lindstrom and Steph Littlebird (illus.)

For more information about the Randolph Caldecott Medal, including current and past winners, visit the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) website.

This podcast was recorded in the Digital Innovation and Learning Lab (DIALL) in the UArizona College of Education with assistance from the UArizona COE Tech Team.

Producer: Rebecca Ballenger, Worlds of Words Center Associate Director
Audio Engineer: Liam Arias, Worlds of Words Center Student Employee and Radio, TV, Film Major

For more information on MSRAP, visit wowlit.org.

We Can Promote Global Literature Together!

The Worlds of Words Reading Ambassador program is completely free for participants who receive a book for themselves and a book to share with their school librarian, ELA/English teacher, or other school entity. If you would like to support this program, please make a gift on-line through the University of Arizona Foundation.

Thank you for listening and keep reading!

Join the Worlds of Words Center Middle School Reading Ambassadors (MSRAP) as we discuss The Kingdom Over the Sea by Zohra Nabi.

We tested out some new podcasting equipment, so our sound levels aren't that great. You may want to adjust your volume as you listen.

In this episode, we discuss how we came to read both the U.K. and U.S. versions, the differences we noticed, and how the versions might affect the reader's experiences. We share our perspectives on how children (real and fictional) can be impacted by an adult's choice to withhold information that could potentially impact their lives. We consider identity, belonging, and home. Finally, we recall our conversation with Zohra around finding story inspiration and how to write that story.

Books mentioned in this episode:
The Aru Shah series by Roshani Chokshi
The City Beyond the Stars, by Zohra Nabi

We invite anyone who is able to attend the Tucson Festival of Books on March 9 & 10, 2024.

This podcast was recorded in the Digital Innovation and Learning Lab (DIALL) in the UArizona College of Education with assistance from the UA COE Tech Team.

Producer/Host: Rebecca Ballenger, Worlds of Words Center Associate Director
Audio Engineer: Liam Arias, Student Employee and Radio, TV, Film Major
Coordinator: Vianey Torres, Student Employee and Nursing Major

Reading Ambassador Adviser:
Samantha Montes, Graduate Assistant

For more information on the Worlds of Words Middle School Reading Ambassadors (MSRAP), visit wowlit.org.

We Can Promote Global Literature Together!

The Worlds of Words Reading Ambassador program is completely free for participants who receive a book for themselves and a book to share with their school librarian, ELA/English teacher, or other school entity. If you would like to support this program, please make a gift on-line through the University of Arizona Foundation.

Thank you for listening and keep reading!

Join the Worlds of Words Center Middle School Reading Ambassadors (MSRAP) as we discuss Clarice the Brave by Lisa McMann.

In this episode, the Reading Ambassadors talk about the theme of separation. We also butcher the word "anthropomorphism" to discuss how human characteristics are attributed to the animals in Clarice the Brave. In our off-air literature discussions, we considered anthropomorphism as a basis for banning/challenging books.

This podcast was recorded in the Digital Innovation and Learning Lab (DIALL) in the UArizona College of Education with assistance from the UA COE Tech Team.

Producer/Host: Rebecca Ballenger, Worlds of Words Center Associate Director
Audio Engineer: Liam Arias, Student Employee and Radio, TV, Film Major
Coordinator: Vianey Torres, Student Employee and Nursing Major

Reading Ambassador Adviser:
Samantha Montes, Graduate Assistant

For more information on the Worlds of Words Middle School Reading Ambassadors (MSRAP), visit wowlit.org.

We Can Promote Global Literature Together!

The Worlds of Words Reading Ambassador program is completely free for participants who receive a book for themselves and a book to share with their school librarian, ELA/English teacher, or other school entity. If you would like to support this program, please make a gift on-line through the University of Arizona Foundation.

Thank you for listening and keep reading!

Join the Worlds of Words Center Teen Reading Ambassadors (TRAP) as we discuss The Broke Hearts by Matt Mendez.

This episode gets personal as we elaborate on Matt's suggestion that we never stop becoming something.

It was reported in this episode that the book launch had just under 30 attendees, but it was actually over 30 attendees. This matters because the Middle School Reading Ambassadors challenged the teens to see who could get more people to their author event. Did they? Didn't they? That part hasn't been reported.

This podcast was recorded in the Digital Innovation and Learning Lab (DIALL) in the UArizona College of Education with assistance from the UA COE Tech Team.

Producer/Host: Rebecca Ballenger, Worlds of Words Center Associate Director
Audio Engineer: Liam Arias, Student Employee and Radio, TV, Film Major
Coordinator: Vianey Torres, Student Employee and Nursing Major

Reading Ambassador Advisers:
Samantha Montes, Graduate Assistant
Katherine Connover, Retired Educator

For more information on the WOW Teen Reading Ambassadors (TRAP), visit wowlit.org.

For more information about Matt Mendez and his process writing The Broke Hearts, visit wowlit.org.

We Can Promote Global Literature Together!

The Worlds of Words Reading Ambassador program is completely free for participants who receive a book for themselves and a book to share with their school librarian, ELA/English teacher, or other school entity. If you would like to support this program, please make a gift on-line through the University of Arizona Foundation.

Thank you for listening and keep reading!

Join the WOW Center Teen Reading Ambassadors (TRAP) as we recap our year together.

The novel in verse that Alessa refers to in this episode is Your Heart, My Sky by Margarita Engle. Other books specifically mentioned include Anger Is a Gift by Mark Oshiro and Voting Booth by Brandy Colbert.

The Tucson Festival of Books deserves multiple shout outs!

This podcast was recorded in the Digital Innovation and Learning Lab (DIALL) in the UArizona College of Education with assistance from the UA COE Tech Team.

Co-Producer: Rebecca Ballenger, WOW Center Associate Director
Co-Producer: Sara Logan, Literature Discussant and COE Graduate Student
Audio Engineer: Liam Arias, Student Employee and Radio, TV, Film Major
Coordinator: Vianey Torres, WOW Student Employee and Nursing Major

For more information on the WOW Teen Reading Ambassadors (TRAP), visit wowlit.org.

We Can Promote Global Literature Together!

The Worlds of Words Reading Ambassador program is completely free for participants who receive a book for themselves and a book to share with their school librarian, ELA/English teacher, or other school entity. If you would like to support this program, please make a gift on-line through the University of Arizona Foundation.

Thank you for listening and keep reading!