WOW Reads: S3, E7 - RAP Reads The Strange Case of Harleen and Harley by Melissa Marr

Join the Worlds of Words Center Teen Reading Ambassadors (TRAP) as we discuss The Strange Case of Harleen and Harley by Melissa Marr.

In a special combined group of middle and high school readers, the Reading Ambassadors came together where story worlds collide -- in this case, DC Comics, the gothic world of Robert Lewis Stevenson, and author Melissa Marr's imagination. We thoroughly enjoyed Melissa's second visit with us, especially she shares her writing process and thoughts on book challenges. We also give a shout out to illustrator Jenn St-Onge.

Program note: Melissa discussed Dissociative Identity Disorder as distinct from the literary theme of the duality of human nature with us. In this episode Reading Ambassadors using terms such as "alter egos" refer to the literary theme, not the mental health condition.

Authors/books mentioned in this episode:
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
Guadalupe García McCall, who joined us in WOW Reads' Season 1.

This podcast was recorded in the U of A College of Education media studio with assistance from the U of A COE Tech Team.

Producer/Host: Rebecca Ballenger, Worlds of Words Center Associate Director
Lit Discussant: Kait Waterhouse, U of A COE Graduate Assistant
Learning & Engagement Intern: Bonnie Rock, U of A W.E. Franke Honors College Student
Audio Engineer: Alexis Mendoza, Worlds of Words Student Employee and U of A Art Major
Coordinator: Vianey Torres, Student Employee and Nursing Major

For more information on the WOW Reading Ambassadors, 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 Worlds of Words that centers teen voices around literature that is 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, thereby opening windows on the world. 

Worlds of Words Reading ambassadors engage in university experiences of children's literature within the University of Arizona College of Education. Reading ambassadors learn about the 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 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 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. 

In our first DC novel, Melissa Marr writes about a girl by the name of Harleen Quinzel, who's just moved to the small city of Edinhall I think? Edinburg? Edin something. All right. She's an anxious girl on probation who's developing a chaotic alter ego, but slowly she discovers that maybe she isn't all that bad. Melissa Marr is currently living in Mesa, Arizona, with her wife and kids. 

My name is Rebecca, I am the associate director for Worlds of Words, and my favorite superhero is Wonder Woman. 

My name is Calliope and I like Wanda.

My name is Nia and I like the Scarlet Witch. 

My name is Graham and I like the Winter soldier. 

My name is Christian and I like Spiderman. 

My name is Gabriel and I like the Joker. 

My name is Janesha and I also like Wonder Woman. 

My name is Emaline and I like Black Widow. 

My name is Carlos and I like Batman.

My name is Cheyenne and I also like the Joker. 

We also have Bob Bingham Photography with us today, you might hear the shutter of the camera as we proceed throughout this podcast. 

So today we talked to Melissa Marr, a superhero herself. She came to Worlds of Words, we got to ask her a lot of questions, and she stayed for our celebration. Does anybody want to talk a little bit about what it was like to meet Melissa? 

She was very kind, and I liked how she spoke clearly in ways that we could understand. 

In my opinion, Melissa is awesome. She just seems like a really great person. She rescues animals, she has adopted kids. She is just very down to earth and I really enjoyed our time with her.

I feel that Melissa Marr is very passionate about what she does, and she really knows how to express herself. She loves to draw, even though she's not really good at it, she loves to write, she loves to teach, and she just loves being a mom. 

She's also an upstander for banned books, which I find very cool.

So we read The Strange Case of Harleen and Harley by Melissa Marr, it's a graphic novel, it's in the DC universe. It also gives a nod to the Gothic story The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. What connections did you make to this book? 

Both experienced main characters with alter egos.

You mean Harleen and Harley and Jekyll and Hyde? They both have alter egos?

Yeah. 

Yeah, what connections do you make to that? Do you know the story of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? 

Mr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are about, one person who has two different personalities, but kind of like the Hulk and Bruce Banner.

So Mr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is like an old timey, gothic version of Harley and Harleen. They have split personalities and, I'm not sure if this is true, but in Mr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde apparently the normal person forgets about the alter ego. 

The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a novella by Robert Louis Stevenson. It is gothic as Cheyenne just shared with us, and it explores the duality of human nature. So Doctor Jekyll is a scientist and he experiments on himself. I think he takes poison, it's been a long time since I read this story. We talked about it a little bit at our readathon, for those people who came in person to the readathon.

This book plays in two different stories. So it plays in the DC universe and it plays in this other sort of touchstone story that we all know. So what other connections did we make with this book?

I kind of like Harley's little energy, I don’t know, kind of match her vibe, say what I want to say. But, yeah, I liked that kind of aspect of it, of being able to kind of feel the energy of Harley. 

I think Harley is like a fun character and she’s really conserved. Like, she keeps back things. She keeps things to herself in her Harleen ego. But, she's a fun person when she's Harley. 

So this was the first graphic novel we read. When we go into a lit discussion or conversation like this, is it easier for you to get into those details with, or I should say just like, what are the differences in the way that you approached the graphic novel versus some of the other novels that we've read so far?

I feel like with novels, they're more likely to have a hidden meaning or a different interpretation of the story. With graphic novels it's more direct. 

In general, I feel like graphic novels are more fun and more immersive. Like, you see what's happening rather than having to imagine it. 

Kind of similar to what Janesha said. But I feel like, I can see what the author is intending for me to see, sometimes I like that and sometimes I don't, it's just like I'm able to see what they want me to see. 

I feel like it's easier to comprehend what's in a graphic novel than in an actual novel. Because when you're reading word after word in a novel, it just feels like too much and you can't really think when you're just reading words. But when you get to see a picture and see what's happening while also reading about it, it just gives you the magic. The creativity to piece everything together in your mind and create something even bigger. 

So what was everybody's favorite part of this novel? 

Rescuing the bunnies. 

That was Melissa's one of Melissa's favorite parts. 

My favorite part of the novel was when they tossed bees at, Pamela's dad.

My favorite part was the explosion at the end. Also, I just want to add if he does end up dying to those bees, I know he isn't, but that's gotta be a bad way to end a day. 

So does anybody want to, discuss something about our meeting that stood out for you? Something that Melissa said.

I like how she said, like when we were talking about what books we should read, she always said go into whatever you like. And it's not like about what other people think. It's just about what you want to read, because everything is going to have a different meaning for you. And I also liked how she thinks of reading as an adventure or as a way to bring something more meaningful into life than just being sitting around and not doing anything.

Yeah, I think she said, like, books aren't always for everyone, but there's always a book for someone. But I also liked she said that, like just by discussing books, you learn so much, just by reading a book you can understand more. It's as simple as just opening a cover. 

Yeah, like Emaline said, I liked the way she explained her opinion on banned books. Like, she would read the books that her kids are reading and they would discuss it together and it brought her kids closer to her. They were able to talk to each other about so many different things that say, other parents or other kids wouldn't be able to chat with their parents about. 

She said read books like you'd watch TV. They're portable, and you can have one with you at all times. Does this group generally have a book with you most of the time? 

I'm getting some, so for the people who can't see what we're doing, we're giving the, you know, so-so like, sometimes-ish, kind of hand description.

I always have a book in the car and one of my backpack for whenever I'm bored.

All right. Thanks to the Middle School Reading Ambassadors for their perspectives on the Strange Case of Harleen and Harley by Melissa Marr. In part two of this episode, we will hear from the Teen Reading Ambassadors. 

My name is Rebecca and my favorite piece of superhero media is the Lynda Carter television show Wonder Woman. 

My name is Maggie and my favorite piece of superhero media is Spiderman.

My name is Audrey, and my favorite piece of superhero media is the Lego Batman Movie. 

My name is Minerva, and my favorite piece of superhero media is WandaVision. 

My name is Avery and my favorite piece of superhero media is Rogues! the podcast by Codot and Dee. 

My name is Rebecca and my favorite superhero media is Guardians of the Galaxy Volume three.

My name is Quinn, and my favorite piece of superhero media is anything with Deadpool in it. 

You may be hearing some camera shutter sounds as we go forward, that's because we are graced with the presence of Bob Bingham Photography today as this is our last official podcast of the year. 

Today we met with Melissa Marr, the author of The Strange Case of Harleen and Harley. Will somebody please speak to what it was like to meet Melissa?

It was really nice getting to meet her. She was super cool to talk to, and it was definitely cool since I've been obsessed with DC, and it was really cool to meet someone that got to publish for DC and write for DC. It was incredible.

I really loved meeting her. She was very down to earth and just really understanding with us and just kids of all ages I can see. She was just so passionate about writing and books, and I loved how she really believed in her mission of being an author. 

I liked hearing, like, just about how she got to where she is today. It almost seemed like things fell into place magically for her, like, oh, I just happened to be telling my kids stories, then more kids joined, all of a sudden I became a writer, and now I'm writing for DC and they really liked my story. Just how one good decision really got her to a bunch of other ones that helped her get so successful.

It was incredible to hear her talk about writing her first book in six weeks, and then selling it within 24 hours, that was amazing. She talked to us a lot about writing, what about writing? What about her sharing with us her writing process with different publishers? What did you guys think about that? 

We I mean, we always meet with authors who've written books, and it's always interesting to hear about, like, how they get theirs published, and I think that Melissa Marr went into a lot more detail than some other authors have about how she was able to, like she described different publishing companies and like what she liked and didn't like about them. And I thought it was really interesting, how she described what she liked and how she described getting her book published and what it was like writing it.

I thought it sounded really interesting to hear what working with DC is like. It was really cool to hear about, like how they work with the author and how prompted on time they are and how apparently good they are to work with. Although it's something that basically, once you're done writing, you're gone. But, it was also really cool because she told me that at Comic-Con, there actually be editors there at panels where you can like pitch ideas to them, which is cool.

I didn't realize how much of the book that she just wrote, had been almost told to her what she had to write. I thought that was really interesting, how she was given so many rules that she had to follow, and we're still able to make something out of it. So she was writing off of, sort of a formula that was, set out by, is it save the cat?

I don't know why I'm blanking on it right now, because I've actually read the book, and now all of a sudden it's not coming to me, Save the Cat. And interestingly, she told us that she starts with something more like a script, which, Save the Cat was originally written for screenplays, but then it came out for books as well. So the fact that she writes sort of for screenplays, and then she applied that to the graphic novel. You remember her talking about that? I'm getting some nods. That was very different from the writing styles that we've heard from before. 

Yeah, we've met with some authors who have said that, I think it was Guadalupe Garcia. Was that her name? She said that the characters would talk to her and they would come to her, and that's how she would write the story. She would get up in the middle of the night because she'd have a dream and she would keep writing the story that way. Melissa said that she usually had a plan because it makes it easier and has an outline, which I definitely understand because I, I would agree with that. And just essay writing and things like that. 

So, this was the first graphic novel that we've had in the program, and I think that that writing style might have lent itself to creating a graphic novel. So did your approach as a reader change the graphic novel from a regular novel? 

I tend to wait till the last minute to read books. So it was honestly really nice to be able to read a book so quickly, and I think that was definitely because of the fact that it was a graphic novel. 

The artist was just, I like the art style and they're obviously very talented. 

Yeah, Quinn, I was curious to know about your opinion about the art style, because you're kind of one of our resident artists. Do you want to talk a little bit more about what you thought about the art in the book? 

Yes, it just flowed really well. It seemed like when the person was drawing it, they weren't having to erase a bunch of times, they knew the shape the character had and like, the sort of aesthetic of everything around it. It just feels like they were able to just, I don't know the word for it. 

What other connections did you make to the actual story? This is a combination of The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and the DC universe. What kinds of connections did you make to those elements of the story coming in plus what Melissa added, how did you connect to the actual story? 

I can't say that I've read, Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde or am that interested in DC comics because I tend to lean more towards Marvel, but I think Harley Quinn is a very iconic character, and I thought it was very interesting in the way that Melissa set up her backstory for that, and the way that Poison Ivy or Pamela in this book was incorporated into her story. I thought that it was nice to give backstory to characters that have that gray area that Melissa was saying that she loved to explore so much and you can tell that in this book because Harley Quinn is just a very complex character who has a lot of sides. Obviously that's shown a lot in the book.

So Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Gothic story written in a Gothic period, and what does that bring up for you just outside of these books or anything? If I say, Oh, this is Gothic, what adjectives would come up for you? 

I don't know, like dark kind of. 

Dark, Yes. What else? 

Emo. 

Emo? Okay. Yes. That's fair.

Maybe a little bit older, like vintage, is what I'm thinking. 

Vintage, like Gothic architecture. 

Yeah, or like tragedy almost. 

Tragedy, yeah, so the topics can be darker. So not just darker in color, tone, atmosphere but also thematically. Alright, so, with that in mind did you see those elements in this in this book? 

Yeah, I definitely saw it in the beginning when Harleen is just moving into Gotham and she's kind of sad with her family, they don't really want to be there and it's kind of all monotone and like the color scheme I feel like. But as you progressed through the book, especially with Harley, there's more really bright colors, especially red, because it's Harley Quinn. 

Yeah, I thought that was interesting too. The monochromatic-ness of different scenes to like, I don't know, I guess really push the idea of what was happening in the book. I thought that was cool. 

Changes, just speaking on the color scheme, and it changes with the confidence almost, or self-esteem that Harleen has in herself. Even on the back, even on the back cover you have the two personalities and one of them is all hunched over and, like, almost kind of hiding, and then the other one's more confident and almost more gothic in a way. Like they’ve accepted that they're in a dark place. 

But it doesn't mean that everything's dark, there is one happy moment that Melissa shared was a pleasure to write as well. Do you recall what that is? 

When they went and saved the bunnies from that lab. 

Save the bunnies. Yeah. Did that resonate with you? Is there a part of you that also wants to go into Hawthorne Biomedical Lab and release the bunnies?

Yeah. Of course. 

No, just leave them. 

Yeah. Like why would you leave a bunch of rabbits in the lab? 

Because that's the legally right thing to do. 

That gray area. 

Yeah. All right, any final reflections? 

I thought this book tackled a lot of things and a lot of complex themes that people like to shield kids from. I asked Melissa about this, about her thoughts on banned books, and I assumed that she had banned books, and she does. I really loved this little monologue that she gave us about how important it is for kids to read books on difficult subjects because it exposes them to the world. She said that she thinks it's evil for for people to ban books because it takes away that opportunity from children to be more exposed to the world and just make their own opinions and thoughts and cope with the world. She said this one quote, I don't know if I can remember it fully, but she said that if you're banning questions, that just means you're not capable of having hard conversations. I definitely messed that up. She said it in a really nice way. 

I think you said it just fine. 

Yeah, She was really nice, I really loved her takes on things and how she wrote difficult topics such as domestic abuse and queer love stories and everything like that.

I liked the idea that she had for a love story between Batman and the Joker that she wanted to propose when she was pitching to DC, and how that ended up becoming Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy instead. I thought that was cool. 

I'd like to thank Melissa Marr who joined us today. Since this is our last official podcast, I would like to also give credit to Kathy Short, who's the director of Worlds of Words. Catherine Conover, our volunteer who is has been with us this whole year. Kait Waterhouse, who is our lit discussant, Bonnie Rock, our intern. Vianey Torres, who keeps us together administratively. Alexis Mendoza, who began as our sound engineer this year and will continue with us next year. Liam Arias, who spent the year with us as well as a sound engineer. Everyone who donated to our, crowdfunding campaign and those who continue to fund us, including the Max and Abigail Simmons Foundation, the University of Arizona College of Education Tech Team. We are currently recording in the COE Tech Team studio.