WOW Reads: MSRAP Reads Halfway to Somewhere by Jose Pimienta

Join the Worlds of Words Center Middle School Reading Ambassadors (MSRAP) as we recap our experience around Halfway to Somewhere by Jose Pimienta.

In this episode, we discuss... 

• Jo’s creative process.
• The places and spaces we feel halfway between.
• We recommend this book for our parents and teachers (the OG book influencers), our friends and basically everyone!

This podcast was recorded in the Digital Innovation and Learning Lab (DIALL) in the U of A College of Education.

Producer/Host: Rebecca Ballenger, Worlds of Words Center Associate Director
Lit Discussant: Narges Zandi, U of A COE Graduate Assistant
Audio Engineer: Alexis Mendoza, Worlds of Words Student Employee and U of A Art Major
Audio Engineer: Alexis Mendoza, Worlds of Words Student Employee and U of A First-year Student
Coordinator: Vianey Torres, Worlds of Words Student Employee and U of A Nursing Major
Digital Collaborator: Melanie Reyes, Worlds of Words Student Employee and U of A First-year Student

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

Today's Podcast Music was made by Nathan LaValley (Royalty Free Bossa Music).

###

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 Worlds of words that features middle and high school voices on books written for them. 

Worlds of Words Center of Global Literacies and Literatures is committed to creating an international network of people who share the vision of bringing books and children together, and thereby opening windows on the world.

Worlds of Words Reading Ambassadors engage in a university experience of children's literature within the University of Arizona College of Education. Reading ambassadors learn about literature for young people under the direction of faculty and staff, with expertise in children's literature, education, library science and marketing. 

We respectfully acknowledge that the University of Arizona is on the land and territories of indigenous peoples. Today, Arizona is home to 22 federally recognized tribes, with Tucson being home to the O'odham and 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. 

Jose Pimienta resides in Burbank, California, where they draw comics, storyboards, and sketches for visual development. They have worked with Random House Graphic, Candlewick Press, Iron Circus Comics, Dark Horse Comics, Disney Digital Network, and other studios. They also love to go on walks and bike routes as often as possible. 

Ave knew moving to Kansas would be hard, but at least their whole family would be dealing with it together. Then Ave finds out their father and sister are staying in Mexico, permanently. Their parents are getting a divorce. 

My name is Rebecca and I would like to say I'm halfway to figuring the Reading Ambassador program out. 

My name is Kamilla, and I'm halfway to my soccer championship. 

My name is Cheyenne, and I'm halfway to my concert for band. 

I'm Milo, and I'm halfway to finishing middle school. 

I'm Audrie, and I'm halfway to finishing one of my video games.

I'm Adriana, and I'm halfway to finishing eighth grade. 

So today we met Jose Pimienta, who personally goes by Joe. I really enjoyed visiting with them, can somebody please talk a little bit to what it was like having them in our space and getting to ask questions? 

I thought it was pretty cool because, I mean, I never really met with an author or had a personal talk with them before. So I thought it was really nice to actually understand what they thought about the book and what questions we had about their book. 

I would like to say that when they were drawing, I really noticed some things on perspective that I wouldn't have known how to do, and so I was really happy for that.

This was the first time we've had a drawing workshop and Cheyenne, as an experienced Reading Ambassador, that was a new experience for you. And yeah, they did their sketches even in 3D to start with, which I was a little surprised and maybe a little intimidated, even though I don't think that Joe is intimidating. They really presented it in a very approachable way. 

Like it's not "This is so hard" you know, or "This is so easy. You should know how to do this." It's just kind of casual. 

So what were the steps they showed us? 

Draw like, a diamond. 

Well, they started with what? They suggest you start with- You go straight to your Sharpie? 

You draw with pencil first because it's easier to erase. 

So you can start with pencil and you can erase what you need to, and pencil is also lighter. Then what happens after the pencil sketch?

They colored it with a colored marker of their choice. 

So then the lines got more firm, and then what happens? 

Then they draw over it with a Sharpie or pen. 

Yeah. So we were just watching them do it on an easel, but what they said was when they're writing a book, there's first the drawing, and then the inking, and then the coloring, and then the lettering. That was the outline that we got when we asked the question about what the process was, but then we got to see some of that process. So do any of you see yourself as an artist? 

So nobody can see you when you raise your hand, You say "I do" 

I do!

Alright, so we got to get a little bit of insight into that drawing process. What else stood out to you about that presentation?

Just like learning their general steps on how to make, graphic novels. 

Joe said that drawing is personal, but writing is vulnerable. What do you think they meant by that? 

I think they meant by drawing is personal because you're drawing it so you're going to make it what you want it, so it's going to be close to you and not anyone else. The writing is vulnerable because you're actually going to make the words and you're going to the story, so it could be about anything you experience. It's going to be personal only to you and like someone may have experienced something around that, but you're the only one who experienced like how you experienced.

I feel like when they said drawing is personal, as in you can draw anything and make it about you or about a character or someone else. But writing can connect with a lot of people, and not just you or the character or person that you're talking about.

Yeah, so I agree with both of them because drawing, it's like, you're putting your emotions into it. While writing, it's like connecting with like what you're thinking, and like any personal experiences you could have had. 

Let's shift gears a little and talk about the book that we brought Joe here to speak with us about, Halfway to Somewhere. Does somebody want to talk about what connections you made to this book or to our main character, Ave?

I can connect with Ave because she doesn't know whether to speak Spanish or English in some certain places, and I can really connect to that because at home I really like speaking Spanish, but I'm outside in the world it feels for me like I need to speak English. It's a priority for me to speak English and not Spanish.

I want to think about how to piggyback off of what you just said, where you feel like you are comfortable speaking Spanish in in your home and then when you're in public you're speaking English. I think that's key to a lot of the experience that we get, not just from Ave, but from other characters in this book.

Joe talked a little bit about it. They said, for example, that there is a thing about being a No Sabo kid. Does anybody want to elaborate on what you think Joe meant? 

Being a no sabo kid means you don't know to say the correct word or any words at all. You kind of just feel really distant from Spanish speakers or like anybody else. It's kind of a broad term and some people feel like that because they don't know a lot of Spanish in the Spanish speaking environment or it could be the same with English, you don't know a lot of English and it kind of just sounds like a toddler speaking it. One of the kids in my class, she barely knows any English, but we still motivate her to keep going and try her hardest. 

Is it relatable, or how relatable is it to you even if you're not a no sabo kid, to sort of not quite feel all the way comfortable in every situation that you're in?

It's pretty really relatable for me at school, because most of the kids or most of my friends speak Spanish or another language, so they'll be speaking Spanish and I'll hear my name in that. Then I don't understand what they're saying, so I'll just look confused in the background. 

I think it's in other situations too. That is a very particular kind of experience to have, that of being a no sabo kid, but you could be an "I don't know soccer" kid or an "I don't know how to podcast" kid. There are all kinds of places and spaces where you could feel partially there, but not all the way. Does anybody want to talk about that? Especially in middle school, I would say middle school is a space where you often feel kind of you're not in high school, you're not in elementary school. Like, where are you? What is your space? 

Yeah. So that's like relatable because in band I'm the only seventh grader because I'm just starting out. The other kids in my class are all sixth graders in general band, so they already know most of the stuff from fifth grade band, meanwhile I'm still trying to figure some things out.

Any other connections you have with this book or things that you found interesting? 

What I felt like was interesting that, Ave was talking to their brother about how they can't speak English all the time because then it'll be out of place with their own culture or something like that, which, I don't know, it felt interesting because Ave's brother was against it and he was like "well, we're living here now, this is our new reality, so now we're going to speak more English." 

Last question, who would you recommend this book to you and why? 

I would recommend it to my mom because she is a teacher, so she has a bunch of kids who could probably relate to books like this. I feel like it would be a great book to add to her own little library in her classroom.

Your mom's like a book influencer. 

Yeah, she made it big. She wanted us to join this so then we could figure out good books for some of her students and her classroom. 

I would probably recommend this to anybody really. I think it's a good book for everyone to read to just be familiar with how most people around them, or maybe not even around them, may feel in a certain environment.

I would recommend this book to my mom even though she hates graphic novels because I feel like it resonates with her especially because she was raised with a white mom and she's black, so she had that kind of "you're either too black or you're too white" and you had to fit in these certain spaces. I think she could really connect with that, especially knowing that Ave was confused and troubled with it. 

Yeah, I would recommend this book to my friend who really likes to read because sometimes she has a hard time fitting in with other people. 

I would recommend this book to one of my friends from school so that she doesn't feel left out of being a no sabo kid. Sometimes she asks me how to say certain words in Spanish and in English, because sometimes she mixes them up. So when she's speaking, she's just speaking some words in Spanish and then she's like "Oh, wait, I forgot how to say that word." So she says it in English and sometimes asks me for different words.

Well, thank you everyone for sharing your thoughts on Halfway to Somewhere by Jose Pimienta. So I would like to thank Joe for traveling. They came on an airplane late last night and they're leaving straight away right now. This is a special trip they made just to meet with the Reading Ambassadors, so thank you to Jose Pimienta.

Thank you to Narges Zandi, our lit discussant. Thank you to Alexis Mendoza our sound engineer. Thank you to Vianey Torres for keeping us together all the time, amazing administration from her, and Melanie Reyes, our new social media specialist. 

We are recording in the Digital Innovation and Learning Lab in the University of Arizona College of Education.