Reading Ambassadors Present Adam Rex

a man with short hair wearing glasses Worlds of Words combined Reading Ambassadors invite you to meet Adam Rex, author of A Little Like Waking!

Zelda is stuck in a dream. A very strange dream, where people can fly, bears sneeze money and her childhood cat is somehow alive – despite being run over years ago. Things get stranger when Zelda meets Langston, a sweet if overly timid guy who feels more real to her than anyone she’s ever met. As Zelda and Langston explore the far reaches of the dreamscape together, they find themselves growing closer and closer. But what they uncover along the way pushes them towards a truth neither of them wants to face.

Close up of a teen male who reads African American sleeping at the top of the cover in opposite placement to a teen girl who reads white and is awake at the bottom Full of mind-bending artwork, Adam Rex’s A Little Like Waking is a tender, insightful read that defies time, space and expectation that’s perfect for fans of Every Day and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

★ “A charming, funny, highly imaginative story that invites long thoughts about the nature of reality and the enduring importance of romance.” — Booklist, starred review

The program includes a group discussion with the author and personal interactions.

Adam Rex is the award-winning and best-selling author and illustrator of more than forty books for kids. These include Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich, On Account of the Gum, Are You Scared Darth Vadar and The True Meaning of Smekday (made into the animated movie Home). He is the author of Oh No, The Aunts Are Here and Pluto Gets the Call, and the illustrator of Chu’s Day by Neil Gaiman.

Attendees are welcome to stay after the event for the Reading Ambassadors’ end-of-year celebration and certificate ceremony.

Free parking is available in the Second St. Garage and at the surface parking lot north of the intersection of First and Vine. Worlds of Words Center is also located just off of the 2nd St. Modern Streetcar stop.

To request disability-related accommodations that would ensure your full participation in this event, please email wow@arizona.edu or call 520.621.9340.

Reading Ambassador author meetings occur every other month throughout the academic year and are open to the public. This free program for area middle and high school students encourages them to promote reading in their own contexts. Additional information on the Reading Ambassadors is available on our website under the About tab.

Event details may change. More information to follow.

5th Annual Read-a-thon

Get lost in a good book with the Worlds of Words Reading Ambassadors as they host their 5th-annual Read-a-thon! The middle and high school reading ambassadors encourage book lovers of all ages to join us for focused reading paired with fun prompts. There is no physical location for the Read-a-thon, so participants can join on Instagram from anywhere they would like to read!

Instagram Graphic with event details from this post

The WOW Reading Ambassadors will include A Little Like Waking by Adam Rex on their reading lists. Read-a-thon participants can read this book or any books they are dying to read — tackle Mt. TBR (to be read) or ignore the pile all together and grab a new book! The titles on everyone’s reading list will be shared on Instagram Stories as a way to build reading lists!

“The Read-A-Thons I’ve been a part of remain my best excuse to spend hours reading uninterrupted,” says Quin, Teen Reading Ambassador.

Mark your calendar for 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 18 when the ambassadors will welcome Adam Rex to Worlds of Words.

Teen and Middle School Reading Ambassador author meetings occur every other month throughout the academic year. This free program for area youth encourages them to promote reading in their own contexts. Additional information on the Teen Reading Ambassadors is available on our website under the About tab.

Event details may change. More information to follow.

Teen Reading Ambassadors Present Hailey Alcaraz

woman with long hair smiles to the camera Worlds of Words Teen Reading Ambassadors invite you to meet Hailey Alcaraz, author of Up In Flames!

From Penguin Random House, “Gorgeous, wealthy, and entitled, Ruby has just one single worry in her life—scheming to get the boy next door to finally realize they’re meant to be together. But when the California wildfires cause her privileged world to go up in flames, Ruby must struggle to find the grit and compassion to help her family and those less fortunate to rise from the ashes.”

The program includes a group discussion with the author and personal interactions.

Girl stands in the dusk wind overlooking a valley on fire Hailey Alcaraz began her writing career in the sixth grade as a kid reporter for Time for Kids magazine, and has been addicted to storytelling ever since. Born in California and raised in Arizona, she’s a Southwest girl through and through who loves stories about fellow multicultural girls finding their way in the world. She currently lives in Scottsdale, Arizona with her husband, two daughters and precocious German Shepherd. Her new novel, Up In Flames, released in October 2023.

Free parking is available at the surface parking lot north of the intersection of First and Vine. The Second St. Garage next door to the College of Education will cost $15 due to the UArizona basketball game that day. The WOW Center is also located just off of the 2nd St. Modern Streetcar stop.

To request disability-related accommodations that would ensure your full participation in this event, please email wow@arizona.edu or call 520.621.9340.

Event details may change. More information to follow.

Authors’ Corner: Matt Mendez

By Rebecca Ballenger, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

Photo by Chris Summitt

Matt Mendez is the author of Barely Missing Everything and the short story collection, Twitching Heart. The New York Times says Matt “has an uncanny ability to capture the aimless bluster of young boys posturing at confidence.” His new novel, The Broke Hearts, also captures this bluster. In this profile, Matt opens up about this new novel, his writing process and meaningful reader interactions. Continue reading →

Book Launch: The Broke Hearts by Matt Mendez

man in stylized hoodie WOW Teen Reading Ambassadors with partners Pine Reads Review invite you to a book launch for The Broke Hearts, a new book from Matt Mendez!

Meet Matt Mendez, author of the forthcoming The Broke Hearts. From Simon & Schuster, “A year after losing their best friend, JD and Danny are still brokenhearted. JD’s impetuous decision to join the Air Force only makes him yearn for ‘before’ more than ever. Danny, who’d rather paint murals than open a book and certainly never thought of himself as college material, makes the equally impulsive choice to do what Juan will never be able to and enrolls in a community college. When Danny is on the verge of flunking out and JD gets notified of imminent deployment, the two are forced to confront their shared grief that led them to these paths.”

A coyote creeps down the page, his tail poking out through the title The program includes a group discussion with the author and personal interactions.

UArizona BookStores will be in the WOW Center selling copies of The Broke Hearts. A list of retailers for preorders of The Broke Hearts is listed on the Simon & Schuster website.

Matt Mendez is the award-winning author of Barely Missing Everything, his debut novel, and the short story collection Twitching Heart. Like many of his characters, Matt grew up in El Paso, Texas and continues to love and live in the Southwest. He is a military veteran and earned his MFA from the University of Arizona where he has taught creative writing. Matt is the father of two daughters that he loves fiercely. His new novel, The Broke Hearts, is set for release on October 3, 2023.

Free parking is available at the surface parking lot north of the intersection of First and Vine. Sometimes free parking is available at the Second St. Garage next door to the College of Education. The WOW Center is also located just off of the 2nd St. Modern Streetcar stop.

To request disability-related accommodations that would ensure your full participation in this event, please email wow@arizona.edu or call 520.621.9340.

Event details may change. More information to follow.

Reading Ambassador Orientation

It’s not too late for 6th through 12th grade students to sign up for the WOW Reading Ambassador Program. Join us for the orientation and apply using the links below at any time.

J. Elle in foreground taking a selfie with members of the reading ambassador program enthusiastically posing in the background

WOW Teen Reading Ambassadors with author J.Elle at the 2022 Tucson Festival of Books. Photo courtesy of J. Elle.

At orientation, we will go over the permission forms and participation agreements. Parents are encouraged to attend this portion. Then the ambassadors will get a glimpse of what the discussions might look like and receive their first book. Parents can hang out or see if they can find the unicorn or Han Solo in carbonite on UArizona’s beautiful campus.

‣ You can find the application for Middle School Reading Ambassadors on the MSRAP page along with a preliminary schedule, past author visits, and a link to our podcast.

‣ You can find the application for the Teen Reading Ambassadors on the TRAP page along with their preliminary schedule, past author visits, and a link to our podcast.

Paid parking is available at the Second Street Garage just west of the UArizona College of Education. Surface lots and street parking should be free on Saturdays when no other UArizona event is occurring. The WOW Center is also located just off of the 2nd St. Streetcar stop, which is also free.

To request disability-related accommodations that would ensure your full participation in this event, please email wow@arizona.edu or call 520.621.9340.

Event details may change.

WOW Reading Ambassadors Present Mary E. Lambert

Woman with long straight blond hair smiles at the camera WOW Reading Ambassadors invite you to meet Mary E. Lambert.

This conversation focuses on Distress Signal. From Scholastic Press, “Lavender had been looking forward to her class field trip in Chiricahua National Park, AZ — until her best friend, Marisol, ditched her for mean-girl Rachelle. Now the prospect of being stuck in the wilderness with her class for two days is no longer so appealing. But things will only get worse. While the class is hiking through an arroyo, a flash flood strikes! As the water hurtles down the ravine, everyone sprints for safety. Lavender, Marisol, Rachelle and a boy named John end up running in the opposite direction as everyone else and scrambling up a tree while the waters rage by. When the waters finally recede, the four kids are left alone in the desert, separated from their class, shaken and disoriented. Between them, they have one pack of supplies left and only the most basic wilderness knowledge. Can they find their way back to safety? The four kids will have to learn to work together in spite of their differences-if they want to survive.”

Four young teens/tweens trying to outrun a flash flood in a canyon The program includes a group discussion with the author and time for snacks and personal interactions. After this author event, the WOW Center hosts an end-of-year celebration for the Reading Ambassadors. All are welcome to stay for the party.

UArizona BookStores will be in the WOW Center with copies of Mary Lambert’s books for sale.

To request disability-related accommodations that would ensure your full participation in this event, please email wow@arizona.edu or call 520.621.9340.

Event details may change. More information to follow.

4th Annual Read-a-thon

Get lost in a good book with the Worlds of Words Center’s Reading Ambassadors as they host their 4th-annual Read-a-thon! The middle and high school reading ambassadors encourage booklovers of all ages to join them for focused reading paired with fun prompts. There is no physical location for the Read-a-thon, so participants can join on Instagram from anywhere they would like to read!

Instagram Graphic with event details from this post

The WOW Reading Ambassadors will include Distress Signal by Mary E. Lambert on their reading lists. Read-a-thon participants can read this book or any books they are dying to read — tackle Mt. TBR (to be read) or ignore it all together! The titles on everyone’s reading list will be shared on Instagram as a way to build reading lists!

“Read-a-thons are so fun because we get reading prompts every hour where we answer questions about the book we’re reading as a group,” says Echo Sierra, a Teen Reading Ambassador. “Reading is fun on its own, but having little stuff thrown in helps visualize the story a bit more!”

Mark your calendar for 1 p.m. on Sunday, May 7 when the ambassadors will welcome Mary E. Lambert to the WOW Center!

Event details may change. More information to follow.

WOW Center Launches Reading-Focused Podcast Centering Youth Voices

The Worlds of Words Center at the University of Arizona College of Education launched a new podcast called “WOW Reads” that centers the voices of teens and pre-teens around literature for young people. The podcast, which currently has four episodes of about 15 minutes each and a bonus episode, features WOW Center Reading Ambassadors discussing books after having met the authors of those books.

Continue reading →

WOW Teen Reading Ambassadors Present Kathleen Glasgow

WOW Teen Reading Ambassadors invite you to meet Kathleen Glasgow.

This conversation focuses on The Agathas by Glasgow and Liz Lawson. From the publisher, “Who killed Brooke Donovan? It’s the biggest mystery of the summer, and everyone in Castle Cove thinks they know what happened. But they’re wrong. Two unlikely friends come together to solve the case in this fast-paced, fun, modern Agatha Christie inspired thriller.”

Teen girl's sunglasses reflect another teen girl. The program includes a brief presentation, a question and answer period and time for snacks and personal interactions with the author. The UA BookStores offers books for sale and autographing during this event. The workshop also includes one free hour of professional development, so invite your favorite teacher.

To request disability-related accommodations that would ensure your full participation in this event, please email wow@arizona.edu or call 520.621.9340.

Teen Reading Ambassador author meetings occur every other month throughout the academic year and are open to the public. This free program for area high school students encourages teens to promote reading in their own contexts. Additional information on the Teen Reading Ambassadors is available on our website.

Event details may change. More information to follow.