WOW Reads: Bonus - TRAP End of Year Review

In this final reflection on the year, Teen Reading Ambassadors hardly know who we are.

We changed up the teen program to emphasize social and artistic opportunities to share what we are reading. Teens chose our themes and used a broader selection of books, directed our own conversations and created and distributed response art in the form of ‘zines.

In this episode, we talk about our bad reading habits — ignoring homework — and good ones — using reading as a reward for studying. We weigh in on skipping ahead in books and time invested in reading graphic novels versus long-form novels.

We also conclude that slowing down with content, whether books or Artemis II compilations or french fries, allows for a better appreciation for human connection.

Books mentioned in this episode:
Wings of Fire, Book 16 by Tui T. Sutherland
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

Also, ‘zines are too expensive. Incidentally, ours will cost readers the price of a self addressed stamped envelope.

Huge thanks to our parents and caregivers, donors, Kathy Short and everyone who inspired us to read this year.

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
Audio Engineer: Alexis Mendoza, Worlds of Words Student Employee and U of A Art Major
Coordinator: Vianey Torres, Student Employee and Nursing Major
Digital Collaborator: Melanie Reyes, Worlds of Words Student Employee and U of A First-year Student

Music is “O Trio” by Não Posso Esquecer

For more information on the Worlds of Words Reading Ambassadors, 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!

Transcript

Rebecca 0:00

Welcome to WoW Reads, a podcast that centers middle school and teen voices on books written for them.

Rayla 0:05

The World Support 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.

Averi 0:18

World Affords Reading Ambassadors engage in a university experience of children's literature within the University of Arizona College of Education.

Quin 0:26

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 Ootum 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.

Rebecca 0:47

My name is Rebecca Ballinger. I'm the Associate Director for Worlds of Words Center of Global Literacy, Children's Literacies and Literatures, and I'm never going to be able to say that whole thing. In this moment, after having spent this year with the reading ambassadors, this moment right now is bittersweet. I'm feeling a little bittersweet right now.

Averi 1:08

I'm Avery. I am a member of the teen World of Words Ambassador. World World of Words Teen Ambassadors, there we go. I'm a little sad that WoW's over for this year, but also it will be nice to be able to sleep in on Saturdays without my mom being like, you have WoW in five hours, you need to get up.

Rayla 1:27

In five hours.

Rebecca 1:45

You know what, Alexis? Here's a little production note. Let's just keep it all in. There I am.

Rayla 1:50

I was going to. Alright.

Rebecca 1:52

This has been a long day, so we're just going to give ourselves some grace. It's the Teen Reading Ambassador.

Rayla 1:59

Teen Reading Ambassador program. And I'm upset that after that it's all gonna be over, especially since my first time, but I'm definitely gonna come back.

Quin 2:11

Um, Quinn, I've been here for a while, so I'm like not too sad. I'm more so excited about the next year and seeing like what more we can do. But like right now in this moment, I'm just really tired, just just like everyone else here.

Rebecca 2:24

Quinn and Avery, you were also middle school reading ambassadors before becoming teen. Yes. Yes. What was that bridge like for you?

Averi 2:33

I'm gonna be so honest. I don't remember because I have the worst memory known to God, and they're like very similar programs, so like my brain didn't even register the switch, really.

Quin 2:44

I mean, as far as who I was at the start of the program, like in middle school, I was way shyer. I like I I overthought what I'd say during these podcasts, and I had trouble talking to teachers and being like, hey, there's a book that I I want to tell you guys about. Um no, now now it's just way more easygoing. Like I'm more comfortable.

Averi 3:05

Definitely don't care about what we say in the podcast anymore based off our disaster starts today.

Rebecca 3:11

I mean, it is what it is, right? Um, so let's think about what we did this semester. We started out with the um Well, first of all, let's just let me go back because I was just getting ready to go over what we did each cycle, but I'm realizing this year was different from last year. It was somebody, somebody talk about that.

Averi 3:32

Um, well, the previous years the focus was a lot more on like meeting the authors. That was like the main hook for WoW as a whole. I kind of feel like like it was like, wow, you get to read these books and then meet the authors. But this year it's a lot more focused on the books themselves, as it's like, okay, you read the book and now you're creating like a zine based off this book and like all the themes from this book.

Quin 3:55

I mean, it definitely kind of had to take that turn because like wasn't the U of A not funding that part of the probably getting to meet offers as much because teens didn't seem as interested in that?

Rebecca 4:05

Well, it wasn't the university, but um, but yeah, there was kind of a dwindling at the end of the year. So we did a focus group. Um, you were there, yeah. We did a focus group, and what we learned from the teens who were part of that group is that you get academics at school, you get sports at school, you get arts and music at school, and or in the community. And what you were really lacking was the time to be social together. And so if we sit down and we create a zine, just like you were out there, we heard you when we recorded the two previous podcasts. What were you doing?

Quin 4:40

Talking and making art together, which is fun, which is Yeah, totally fun.

Rebecca 4:44

Just to relax and more. So this year you had more choice about your books, you got to choose a theme, and then within that theme, you got to choose your book, and then we came together and we talked about those books. Um, you had more opportunity to let conversations go where you wanted them to go. They weren't directed more towards um that author event. You still had the opportunity to talk to trusted adults, so so that was still there. Um, but that was kind of what precipitated that change. How did you feel about it?

Quin 5:19

I think it reflects a lot of like that, a lot of transitions in life, going from this structured approach to something that like you can kind of do your own thing with. And I I really like that because now it's more like a circle of friends just hanging out and being like, we're gonna create art and we're gonna disperse it in our communities. And actually, next year I'm gonna invite some of more of my friends to do that because I I think they'd really like the community that we have here.

Averi 5:44

Uh I do kind of miss being able to meet the authors because as someone that like really likes writing and wants to get more into writing, it was cool to be able to talk about like the creative process behind the books with the people that like wrote and published the books. But so I kind of miss that. But it is really nice to be able to just like hang out and talk and do art.

Rebecca 6:01

So we did have that opportunity on three occasions.

Averi 6:04

Yeah, those occasions were great.

Quin 6:05

We do get to like kind of get in on what the middle school reading ambassadors are doing. And then of course there's the Tucson Festival of Books, which has a lot of authors there to talk to.

Rebecca 6:14

But it was different. Yeah. So what would you um so Rayla, our newbie, what was it like for you in your first year?

Rayla 6:24

When like our first meeting, there were definitely like different people from the people that um are here now and the people that um were um going to be here. Um but like seeing like knowing that we all had like a chance to um talk and like even like form really close friendships with each other, um was very um was very nice to see, especially like um growing out of just like your school friends. You also have like people in uh another community.

Quin 7:13

I mean, unfortunately we don't have the same people, like we those people were not able to come because that kind of just happens over the course of the year. You make all these commitments to clubs at the beginning. Yes, and then you end up like it's final season, it's AP season. Everybody is probably like, oh, I need to study tonight. You know?

Rebecca 7:32

Little Bertie told me you have the the AP tests every day.

Quin 7:36

It feels like a constant preparation for that these past two these past few weeks, and then next week I have like four APs on my side.

Averi 7:44

I have two APs back to back next week. It's gonna be horrible.

Rayla 7:47

And I had my AP um world history exam last week.

Quin 7:51

High school's just busy.

Rebecca 7:53

So how do you negotiate reading for fun when you have all of those pressures on your time?

Averi 7:59

Uh I'm actually not gonna say that on the spot because I was gonna say, do not listen to my advice about school kids. Um, I ignore my own.

Rayla 8:08

Oh no. Um for me, I make it something I'm sure like reward myself with. Like usually I want to when I when I want to finish something, I need like a motivation to do so. So um I was like doing this MCQ practice for my exam, and I really wanted to finish um my new Wings of Fire book that I just got, the book 16, but I was like, I need to f I need to study. So I was like trying to finish it, and there was like seven, there's like 95 questions. And now it's at question 20, so I was like, if I finish this, then I'll be able to read the books.

Rebecca 8:50

That is exactly how I wrote my master's thesis. I'm not that that will get you all the way through grad school, I promise you. What a good strategy. It works for us.

Averi 9:00

I did something sort of similar the other day, so I was at scented leaf studying with my friend, and I had like this really big English assignment that I used to get out, and I was like, okay, I'll get this much done, then I get a read of chapter of Project Hail Mary. To get this much done, then I get a read of chapter of Project Hail Mary.

Rebecca 9:13

Avery, during our readathon, which is four hours of sustained reading, you read like eight books. There were some, most of them are comics for graphic novels.

Rayla 9:24

Come on.

Rebecca 9:25

So you don't value that reading the same. It's faster. It's certainly faster.

Averi 9:30

You don't think graphic novels have literary merit, do you? Is that what you're saying?

Rayla 9:35

I just think that when it comes to reading, if you like mashed all those comics together, it would have been more like two chapter books to me. In terms of the time it takes, to yeah.

Quin 9:50

There's a lot of visual cues in graphic novels that you just don't know.

Rayla 9:53

Yeah, you just see it. You don't get to imagine it. Like, sure you can imagine their voices, but really, it's different.

Averi 10:01

Not no hate. No hate. No hate with graphic novels. I read a book in one hour the other day.

Rebecca 10:07

Oh, yeah. A non-comic book. Okay. I but I do think that you are a fast reader, Henry. Yes, you can. I I'm a slow reader. I was talking about this with um an author the other day. Um there's something that's really lovely about slowing down and experiencing a book kind of in real time. I think for years I rushed through book through books, but now I just kind of in this age of of just everything coming at me, like, you know, drinking from the fire hose. I I appreciate the opportunity to slow down.

Averi 10:42

I'm unable to slow down and reading books. Like I I need to know what happens next, but if I like a book, I will reread it multiple times just to make sure I get every single bit. Like instead of reading slowly, I just read it multiple times.

Rebecca 10:54

Same, same, same. And I'm remembering, Avery, that you told me that you read you sneak ahead in books. You do you look ahead? Uh no, I don't.

Averi 11:02

I every now and then, like, I'll be like well, I only if I'm like, okay, I don't like where this book is going, and I want to make sure it doesn't go in a direction I really don't like, then I'll like skip ahead to make sure, but like other than that, no. I have skipped ahead in books mostly because Rayla.

Rayla 11:20

I know, but that's mostly because like they're talking about something that to me is either boring or is like really just not related to what they're having to do. Like, I I was like reading um this, I was reading um this book, I don't remember the name, but I uh it was something that my friend gave to me. They were just talking about like the French fries. There was like a whole one like one of the characters back is like the pro the protagonist's like story was um about like a skip ahead in the story. Romance apocalypse. So like it was a it was like a romance like apocalypse thing, and they were just talking about the french fries, so I like skipped ahead because I didn't want to look talk about the curly.

Rebecca 12:07

Okay, okay, okay. I'm not gonna lie, I would read a lot about French fries. I really would. I really wouldn't.

Quin 12:14

And and and even then, like you need the French fries moments in books to understand like how you need that character chemistry. Like the big meal Big Mac. How to supersize it?

Averi 12:28

Yeah, you need like the little stuff to have like the happy meal, you know? Um, but okay, so for skipping ahead in books, like for example, for Project Hell Mary, there's a lot of science talk in it. Science is not my thing. My eyes like glaze over during those parts, and I'm just like, yes, and Artemis 2.

Rebecca 12:46

I cannot believe you said that.

Averi 12:48

I only enjoy biology, and while there is a lot of biology talk, there's also a lot of engineering talk, and engineering is not my thing, and so I skip over it.

Quin 12:58

Okay, well, biology is not my thing at all. I love biology, it's peak. I I despise everything about it.

Averi 13:04

I need to know more about Rocky's biology, please. Okay.

Quin 13:08

But we do have an engineer, you know, here and there, right? Yeah, no, when I see those parts in books, I'm like, okay, what are they talking about? Like I tried to do that.

Averi 13:16

Read Project Tail Mary, you will enjoy the engineering stuff.

Quin 13:19

I I that's on my book list. Oh my goodness. It looks so good. Yeah, I you mentioned you mentioned Artemis too. It's kind of funny how like we kind of uh um my friend was showing me edits of the Artemis II astronauts, just yeah, like on TikTok. Like just these just these rockets launching into space, and it's like how we reduced Artemis to just that.

Averi 13:39

Well, no, I've like so many like beautiful drawings of like photos uh that like were like taken from the Artemis, and it's like so gorgeous, and like I mean it's great, it's great engagement.

Quin 13:50

Yeah, I just think there's so much more.

Rebecca 13:52

But also the there were great sound bites. What what was it? It was um copy copy bracelet, copy heart. What what was the the I don't remember? Yeah, there was one of the things. And naming the naming the bright spot on the moon, Carol. So like so in this heavy science world, just like these books that we're talking about, there are these lovely human stories. So yeah, don't rush through Artemis to don't just look at the launch, but take in those other those stories.

Quin 14:23

Those those deep those deep bits.

Averi 14:26

Funnily enough, in Product of Mary, okay, I'll stop Project Hail Mary. I don't want to said Project Mary.

Rebecca 14:31

Okay, so um taking that idea again of sort of like the form or format and the story and the function and everything. We've combined a lot of that this year too, as we read books and create art, and we've talked about it already in this podcast, our zine. Um is this your first time making zines or have talk talk about your experience with other zines? I love zines.

Averi 14:57

I love zines. Uh I have I haven't made many, but I I love zines. They are great. Uh one thing that's making me really sad though recently is how overpriced zines have gone. Quick PSA here. Stop making your zines ten dollars. No one wants to buy ten dollar zines, they are supposed to be cheap. And this is your first time, Raila.

Rayla 15:18

Yes, it is, and I really do like making them, especially when we got dots today. I really loved um like making them a lot. The paint dots. Paint dots were just so satisfying to just remind me of playing bingo, those kinds of dots. Yes, we I that's why I like knew about them because we played bingo like once for a holiday when I was young.

Quin 15:40

I've been I've enjoyed making the zines.

Rebecca 15:42

Yeah, there more goes into it than you would think. You know, we we had to come up with a name and a cover and the you know, all of the information that would distinguish one issue from the next. There's a lot of planning. Have you shared the zines with anyone?

Rayla 15:56

Um, I have. I've shared it with some of my friends, um, especially one of my friends who's two of my friends who are actually like big book nerds, and I've tried I've tried like recommending them like, hey, you should join. You should join. You'll probably like it. You should just join. It's only like once a month.

Quin 16:16

Just have fun together. Yeah. I've I have definitely pushed the program to um my friends, the Andy scenes.

Rebecca 16:21

So if you were going to describe the program, we asked the middle schoolers had asked this question, and then I thought I would put it to you too. If you were to describe the program in the fewest words possible, what would you say?

Averi 16:32

Fun.

Rebecca 16:33

Inspiring.

Rayla 16:35

Social.

Rebecca 16:35

Any final reflections?

Rayla 16:38

You should join too. I've already I'm already in. Join, wow. Anyone who's listening.

Quin 16:44

Final reflections. I'm looking forward to next year.

Rayla 16:47

Yeah.

Rebecca 16:48

Me too. It's gonna be fun. I'm doing this all four years. Let's do it. And I'll write you the letter of recommendation. I'd like to thank first of all parents of our teams who have waited 45 minutes late to pick up their kiddos today. Loving them and dad and caregivers and whoever you are out there. We really appreciate you allowing us to have this time with your young people. Thanks to Kathy Short, the director of World Awards. Thanks to all of our donors. Um, thank you to Lean and Alexis and Melanie, student employees and the world supporters who have really um made this program exceptional. We are recording in the digital innovation and learning lab in the University of Arizona College of Education.

Rayla 17:31

Yay!

Quin 17:33

We did it!