WOW Reads: Bonus - TRAP's Season 1 Year In Review

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!

Transcript

Hello and welcome to WOW Reads, a podcast of the World of Words Center of Global Literacies and Literatures, which is committed to creating an international network of people who share the vision of bringing books and children together, thereby opening windows on the world. We encourage thoughtful dialogue around global literature so that children can reflect on their own cultural experiences and connect to the experiences of children across the globe.

Worlds of Words Teen Reading Ambassador Initiative offers middle and high school students a college experience within the University of Arizona College of Education that focuses on books for teens. Ambassadors, learn about young adult literature under the direction of faculty and staff with expertise in children's literature, education, library science, and marketing.

Okay. We respectfully acknowledge the University of Arizona is on the land and territories of indigenous peoples. Today, Arizona is home to 22 [00:01:00] federally recognized tribes with Tucson being home to the O’Odham and the Yaqui. Committed to diversity and inclusion the university strives to build sustainable relationships with sovereign native nations and indigenous communities through education offerings, partnerships, and community service.

Today we're here with our teen reading ambassadors. We're gonna do a little recap over the year. Some of us could recap four years even. There are four seniors here. Oh yeah. With us and. What are you, what your. I'm a sophomore and a sophomore. Let's start by introducing ourselves. I'm Rebecca. I'm Alyssa. I’m Echo.

I'm also Rebecca. I'm Sarah. I'm okay. So let's just start at a very fun, easy place. What is your favorite memory from the WOW Teen Reading Ambassador over the last one year scene? Seeing Itzel a bunch of times, [00:02:00] uh, metaphorically? no, literally watching Itzel stumble on couches, chairs, books. So one component of the Teen Reading Ambassador program is that you set up the situation.

And I will say earlier today when we had an author event, it was not Itzel who stumbled on the couch? Alyssa, but it was you. That's okay. No one needs to know. Alyssa also proceeded to throw balls. So, um, yeah, I got my balls taken away. Yes. So the author Mary Lambert brought stress balls, which obviously were very welcome and needed among this group. But also caused more stress because I was getting a tiny basketball thrown at my head every four seconds.

So I guess my favorite thing would be the fact that we all made bestie friends, and that's what we're gonna stay. Even one of the seniors, me and Itzel and [00:03:00] Echo Leave. Um, I would say this meeting just cause what lessons was doing the entire time,

especially seeing Rebecca take away her ball rolled away. So, um, the adult Rebecca and not the fun Rebecca took away the joy. Yeah. But don't, are you done? Okay. I would also say today was probably my favorite because I don't know, we just had like a lot of freedom and a lot of fun and a lot of us were here today.

And also I really liked the festival books because I really liked talking with the author who like, Just was so open and wrote a genuinely, really good book that you would pick up off the shelf, like without having like been in a book club where it's chosen for you. So it was cool to talk with her. [00:04:00] I would say today was also my favorite day, only because I worked for the majority of this year, like 50 hour weeks, and um, Saturdays were my busiest days.

Like there were the days that I had to be there from like seven thirty to five, so I wasn't able to come for a lot of the meetings. So having like my favorite ambassadors here, Um, it was, it was fun to just be like a teenager again without any kind of responsibilities and not having to worry, like, this is my last, um, like this is my last meeting of being an official ambassador like forever.

So it's, it makes me sad, but I've been here for four years, so. Well, let's talk about that a little bit then. Itzel since you've been here with us the longest, you've been here for four years with the teen reading Ambassador programs, what are some of the things that you remember, um, from like, that may have changed from when you first started as a freshman to now?

Yeah. Um, I think definitely just like the age. [00:05:00] The age, like I was 13 when I started high school, so I was 13 when I started this program. I'm. 17 now. Um, but just kind of being like scared and being like, oh my God, this is like a super serious thing and I have to be super, like official and scholarly. And then as the years went by, it just got like, no, like this is a place where you can be yourself.

And like, um, just having a like relationship with all of like the staff and stuff, especially Rebecca, like Rebecca has seen me since I was a little fetus child to me now, and she wrote me a wonderful recommendation letter. And yeah, I think I definitely credit this program with one of the reasons why I'm going to small school in Boston.

Some No-name school. Some no name school. Yeah. Harvard. But definitely like I, this is the program that I did for fun, like for me, which I can't say about a lot of the other things that I did. Um, and I got to recruit my buddy Alyssa, hey, and my buddy. [00:06:00] Rebecca, I forgot your name for a second I was gonna call you Rob.

I was gonna call you Robert after this. I gotta meet. I got to meet Echo and I love Echo so much. So, hey Echo, since you've been put on the spot nicely, I'll put you on the spot directly. Can you tell us a little bit about your capstone? So, at my school, I am in a thing called the Preparatory Academy. And as a senior, we had to do a capstone presentation, and I chose to do it on wow because it changed me the most, despite me only being here for two years.

Since I joined as a junior, it helped me realize that I wanted to be an author myself. It was really fun. So if there are any publishers, uh, literary agents or any sort of like, you know, people out there in the world who are looking for a YA fantasy author, we've got one budding right here. Echo, I will say, I wanna go in publishing, so I got [00:07:00] you.

I got you. When it's time. Yeah. Also, junior year was my favorite. Well, What was last year? 2021. 2022? Yeah, yeah, yeah. That year I think we had like the best books. Wait, was it last year or maybe the year before when we had like the voting booth, Marco Shero. So that was my first official year. Yeah.

So that was first, first year or three years ago. The first year that Alyssa came, that was my favorite year, I think. Even though, cuz I remember reading the voting booth in a little Airbnb that we rented in Bisbee and that was so slay. So I will say that, so the way the books are chosen is we choose the first one cuz you're not physically here, but you choose all of the rest.

We do a book browese and you pick the top books that you wanna read. Um, How is that different and the ch- the way that you're choosing books here, different from the way you would choose books in your personal life? Okay. I feel like, because, hold on, I have a very like onsite answer for this. I feel like because [00:08:00] it's majority rules you don't, you're.

Reading what other people would read. So like if all, all the people in WOW voted on this one book, and you're like, ah, I would never read that. That's not anything I'd ever read, ever. And then you read it so you can ask questions about it and you're like, wow, that was the best book I've ever read. Or, wow, that's, that's something right there.

Like it gives you that more open door to exploring what do I like, what do I actually not like? Maybe I'm not into this genre. Maybe I'm more into this one more than I realized. And I think that's why, that's what really differs is you're exploring. I really agree with that. I think where I was like a place where you can kind of break out of your normal shell of reading and read and like when you're choosing the books, you're also thinking about what other people could like.

So it's just like a group thing. And then of course that'll be different from like what you read when you just read alone and also, [00:09:00] We read really good books that like have a lot of discussion material, I guess. Like you can just talk so much about them. So I think that's how they're different. Like Echoes of Grace.

Yeah. Yeah, exactly. That's the one I had in mind. Um, go ahead. Oh, sorry. I think also like, um, I know a lot of like, I guess programs are really like, They have like a token diversity, either person or like staff member or like material. But here, like we really do read like just a vast majority of like, not only like authors, but genres as well.

So like, I don't know, I read a lot of romance books, but here it forces me to not to push myself to read other, other books that maybe like I wouldn't have picked up. Um, Yeah. Picked up. Yeah. But also like, there's just such a, a large like amount of, I guess I don't like to use the word [00:10:00] diversity, but it is, it is like we have a good range, a ra-, a good range of, of authors.

It's not just like, oh yeah, straight white guy. Woo. Let's talk about the precious nature of books. Oh yeah. Um, and you know, Alyssa, I'm talking about you. How do you, I'm curious about you guys. This is something we've never really talked. About, and that is your treatment of books. Do you open 'em up?

And crease the, the, the, um, help me out. What is that called? Pages, the binder. Oh, the spine. The spine. Do you crease the spine. Do you take notes in it? Do you dog-ear it or do you like, keep it in a pristine condition cuz you know the author's coming and you want it signed? How do, how, what is your approach to owning being a book owner?

So if it's my book, that's my book. I'm going to claim it as mine by getting so into it because I wasted my, well, these books are free to us of course, but if it's a book I bought, I wasted money on it. So if you don't think I'm gonna like edit what I [00:11:00] think would be better, or what I have questions on, or what I find so interesting and so like beautifully written, you're wrong.

And with these books, these are given to me. They're mine, and I wanna be able to dive so deep in them. So to be so analytical with them to make it very, What does this mean to me? Why is this book important to me? Because it's not just us about, it's not just about us being in wow, but it's actually building a skill.

Like think differently, be open. Why would the author put this in? Why would they do that? So dog-earing important pages where I did scribble a little note to myself, or I did write a question for the author, like, that's just making it mine. So that's why I do that. I have a question. Have you ever gone back and reread a book and looked at your notes and thought, huh, my thinking has changed since then, or?

Yes, but the thing is, I don't see it as my [00:12:00] thinking has changed. Mm-hmm. I've seen it as, why was I thinking this? Like, what made me mark this? Oh yeah. Like it's not, it's personal growth. So yes, my thinking has changed, but why did I do it? So I want to go back to that old way of thinking and be like, what were you thinking?

Younger little me? Like what was this about Alyssa? I think you should invest in those clear sticky notes because I have had those and I just write all kinds of like stuff. But although I will say one time, Um, somebody, my mom opened my book and saw my annotations and it had a cuss word as my annotation.

She was like, what is this? And I was like, okay. So then after that I stopped doing annotations cuz I was worried somebody was gonna open it and read it on accident and be like, what is this girl on? Like, what is she thinking? I personally don't cuss in my annotation. Okay, well I do. So if I feel that profoundly about something, I'm just gonna highlight it a couple times over.

Yeah. But then it bleeds and it's weird actually. I've [00:13:00] never had that happen to me. Okay. I've never, I've never highlighted something or marked something and it bleeded through. As mu-as much as I think it will one day. Mm-hmm. Has it? I do dog eat ear. Sometimes I dog eat ear on the top and the bottom. If it's a page I really like, like if it's like a letter, I love poem, or they're like, oh my God, I love you so much, ah, then I, I will do that.

Um, so as I listen to you, it occurs to me that these might be skills that you could use for. Other types of reading, more challenging, like hard science. Maybe you can, you know, highlight textbooks or whatever. God bless the STEM majors. It is not for me. Somebody has to do it, but I'm a full humanities person.

I'm like reading as a career. Aha. Sign me up. Yeah, so. Not for me, but definitely I'm very, this program also kind of solidified what I wanted to do, which was really nice. Um, cuz people are like, Ew publishing Ew books. And I'm like, mm, how about we just keep your opinions t? So I had to yourself Originally wanted to be an author and then I realized, mm, [00:14:00] maybe I don't like being that vulnerable and having tiny fetuses read my, read my books and putting reviews on good reads.

So maybe I'll just, I've been told I would make a good director, so I'll just tell people what to do instead. So, oh, go ahead. Go ahead. No, I'm curious, um, what you found most challenging about the program? It, it definitely is a little bit hard to try to coordinate with people sometimes just cuz like, I think like the online was hard, but like, it definitely has a different experience when you come into the space and you're like, all right, like, let's see what this person has to offer.

I'm, I'm definitely a little bit of a judgey hater sometimes, but, It forces me to be like, all right, let's give people a chance. You know? I don't know. I feel like the WOW Center is more of like a comforting situation for the authors and us too, because online you're, you can have something random as like, People walking by or people coming in the room and out the room.

Like one year I had a [00:15:00] child in my room if, I don't know if you remember that, and they started crying and my mic went on. Oh, fun. I remember like my dad would be coming into my room and I'd be like get out, I will, like, actually I told you about the meeting, like the interruptions make it so hard to enjoy what you're doing.

Like especially with one of the books I really liked, um, the poem style book. Oh, the, the Natalie Diaz. Natalie Diaz. Yeah. Colonial Post-Postcolonial Love poems. No, no, no, no, no. Not this year, last year, or no? Is that the one where you were like, there's typos. No, no, no. That was, that lady was like, oops. Yeah, that was Ancestor Approved.

Oh. Um, we read Ancestor approved that was an arc, so that was not a finished copy. We can't judge that one based on, yeah, Alyssa did, again, I analyzed these, these words. I think another one I told Sarah about the typo and she was like, let's not say that to the author. Oh yeah. And then you did it anyways. No, no I didn't.

The [00:16:00] WOW center is a very sacred place. I hope that, They have those. And I, I think just like the, this building is like peace. This building, the College of Education. Um, so maybe cuz educators are smart. Educators are smart. So well they educate so I would hope so. Sorry. Okay, last question. If you were talking to somebody who is considering becoming a Worlds of Words center reading ambassador, what would you tell them?

Be prepared off the back. Be prepared. Be prepared for diversity. Be prepared for the weirdest things you might hear. Be prepared. Be prepared to meet rude people. Be prepared to meet nice people. Be prepared to be open and exploring and be prepared for literally just every little thing. If you think, oh, that's never gonna happen to me, there it will, it will happen.

I promise you it will happen. Um, honestly, don't be [00:17:00] so scared because I was really scared when I first joined. When I really had no reason to. Cause we're, we're all nerds here. Uh, there's, you're a nerd too Alyssa. Stop. We all read books. Come on. Hey, hey. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Reading books does not make you a nerd.

Yes, it does. To go into this specifically. Yes, it does. Okay. You are part of a book club shawty. You come on. Not just, not just any but one at a university. Oh crap. Well, we are specifically, we are nerd. You decided. I'm gonna join a book club at a university through the College of Education for Fun that I do on Saturdays.

All right. Not a nerd, but, okay. But you can be a nerd and a cheerleader. You can be both. We know you are both. Okay. Okay. Echo. Just don't be so scared. Don't be so scared. Rebecca? Um, I would also say the same thing and to. I don't know. I actually don't know. Like just try to try to [00:18:00] come to all of the meetings that you can because it actually like, it is a good time and I, I really love like recording these podcasts and um, to read the books cuz it helps.

Yeah. And that it's really fun to meet the authors. It's generally like, really cool that you can meet them and talk to them and ask them questions. I would say just be open like, I know like I tend, and I'm definitely not closed off with this group. Like I'll just say outlandish things, but it's cuz like I genuinely trust like all of you guys.

Excuse me, Alyssa, I'm speaking. Thank you. Um, but like I genuinely just have like a lot of love for all of the ambassador, all of the ambassadors in this room. Um, and that everybody else like. Once you're open, people are open with you and that really allows you to make more connections with like, not only the books but like with your environment and the people around you and like your own day-to-day life.

So definitely I feel like there's like a little [00:19:00] family at the well yeah, center, but I'm not in a cliche way, like I'm not like, oh my gosh, peace and love, but also peace and love cuz I love all of you. It's also not scary. Like I joke with Rebecca all the time and my emails are not always formal, but like, I still love and respect her, and she is cool.

So it's just like, don't be scared, one, it's literally a book club. Like it's not scary. Don't worry. You're not gonna have to write a thesis like just, Do your part. Be open, atte- like be like, be here in this moment. I have a hard time being in moments. Be in this moment, like when you're here, cuz after you're done, like you're probably not gonna get an experience like this again.

If you decide to go on another route, other than like humanities, that first meeting that you guys have talk. Don't sit there on your phone or sh- hiding away in your purse or whatever. Talk. your purse. That's a big purse. So I think that's true for most things, that if you show [00:20:00] up, you have the best chance at maximizing that opportunity, um, and getting the most giggles.

Yeah, for sure. Any final thoughts? And Sarah, Sarah, I'd like for you to weigh in as well. Sure. Any final thoughts? Yeah, this is, um, Been my first year as a grad assistant with the Wow. And I think I just wanna echo and kind of reiterate what you all have said. The WOW is a very welcoming place, um, a place.

And this group, it's, um, comfortable to talk about books openly. And like, you don't have to write a thesis, you don't have an assignment that comes with it. You're just here showing up and talking about your connection with the book. So it's been a fantastic experience and, um, I especially loved the Tucson Festival of Books and getting to have that meeting with Guadalupe Garcia McCall was just, it felt like a, , it felt like a therapeutic little, [00:21:00] little session that we had.

So, and that's another thing about WOW is we're able to talk about heavy subjects. Like we've talked about death by suicide. We've talked about generational trauma. Um, we've talked about, um, My mind blanked on the word. About rape and a lot of other heavy subjects that we're not allowed to talk to on a school.

No. Or in public areas. Like because it's considered taboo. Yeah. Also though, if you don't want to talk about those things, then that's also okay. That's, you don't have to be a part of the conversation if you don't want to. Here, like you're treated like a person, like an adult, and a person like. I mean, you don't have adult privileges to do whatever you want, but like you're treated like an actual human and not just like another statistic- kind of person in a public school.

So, um, so it's been great being here with all of you. Um, it has been truly [00:22:00] my pleasure and my honor, and I have learned from you all. I hope as much as you've learned from the program. And I know now I am confident that you have not just been part of a book club, but that you have been true ambassadors talking to adults, talking to other people your age, talking to the middle school ambassadors.

Um, sometimes talking to people isn't always that easy, or sometimes you do have to be brave in those spaces. And then setting up the, uh, author events and, and doing the research to make sure you're prepared for those, even if it is a challenge to finish those books. And you guys rose to those challenges every time, and so I'm really grateful to each and every one of you.

Thank you so much, and for our seniors who are graduating, congratulations. Woo. I will miss you guys. We have a question for you, Rebecca. Yeah. Did you like our go for the seniors, our little go cheer? I did, I thought it set up a really lovely, so as the, as the middle [00:23:00] school ambassadors, uh, earned their certificates and we did superlatives, which were fun, right?

Um, the teen reading ambassadors gave them each a little cheer, which I think, yes, it, like that level of energy is something that's really nice to have in an academic environment. And I love being reminded that this is fun. They didn't realize why we were doing it, and we were, and I personally started it because like they should feel like someone, someone cares, like.

Yes, there was parents there, but were all of their parents there? No. Exactly. Exactly. Sometimes your parents can make it and sometimes they can't and that's okay. So at least you know there was older people cheering you on while you got that, whether it be your parents or not. Alyssa I'm so glad you said that.

I'm really genuinely, I'm glad that you said that. Not all of us had our parents there and, and so I love that you were in there. Yeah. And some people don't have people to cheer them on, so when you. You gotta cheer. You gotta be [00:24:00] your own cheerleader. But also you can be other people's cheerleader too.

And if you are a team meeting ambassador, I will come as your guest to cheer you on at this last meeting. Oh yeah. Oh, I'll be sure to include you on the invitation list. So that's our time for today. I wanna thank all of the ambassadors. I wanna thank Bob Bingham, who's been taking our picture throughout this whole time.

Bob, Wo!. We'll post some of those pictures so you could see all of our beautiful faces. I wanna thank Liam Arias, our sound engineer. I wanna thank Sara Logan. Our Discussant and I have been remiss at not thanking Vianey Torres, who is the student employee in the WOW Center who has kept attendance and, uh, has kept us on track on discord and has drafted all of our emails, so, yay, Vianey.

Um, I need to thank the Digital Innovation and Learning Lab, the DIALL right here in the University of Arizona College of Education. If you are curious about the program, you can find out more about it on wowlit.org [00:25:00] or you can email us@wowarizona.edu.