WOW Teen Reading Ambassadors finished a successful year advocating for reading with a total of nine meetings and bringing five YA authors to the Tucson community. Help us celebrate their work, learn about the program, and hear from author of Blacklist! and our special guest, Larry Dane Brimner.
Brimner is best known for his nonfiction books for young readers and teens. He graduated cum laude with a degree in British literature, with a specialization in poetry, and a minor in geography, with a specialization in meteorology. He taught writing in high school in the desert of Southern California before returning to college as a teacher of teachers. He stayed true to a longing to become a professional writer. His publication count stands at 200+. Brimner continues to connect with students and schools through high-energy author talks, a blend of stand-up comedy, storytelling, and literacy.
The program includes a brief reception, talk by Brimner with an answer period, presentation of certificates to WOW Teen Reading Ambassadors, and time for personal interactions with the author. The UA BookStores offers books for sale and autographing during this event.
Free parking is available at the surface parking lot north of the intersection of First and Vine. Paid parking is available at the Second St. Garage next door to the College of Education. Located just off of the 2nd St. streetcar stop.
WOW Teen Reading Ambassadors are sponsored by Libraries LTD and Literary Society of Tucson.
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. If you are in grades 8-11, come check it out to see if it’s the sort of program for you. Applications due in August 2019.
To request disability-related accommodations that would ensure your full participation in this event, please email wow@email.arizona.edu or call 520.621.9340.
Event details may change. More information to follow.
WOW Teen Reading Ambassadors invite you to meet Matt Mendez.
In the tradition of Jason Reynolds and Matt de la Peña, Barely Missing Everything is a heartbreaking, no-holds-barred debut novel that explores how difficult it is to make it in life when you—your life, brown lives—don’t matter.
Like his characters, Matt Mendez grew up in central El Paso, Texas. He is also the author of the short story collection Twitching Heart. He lives with his wife and two daughters in Tucson, Arizona.
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 two free hours of professional development, so invite your favorite teacher.
Free parking is available at the surface parking lot north of the intersection of First and Vine. Paid parking is available at the Second St. Garage next door to the College of Education. Located just off of the 2nd St. streetcar stop.
WOW Teen Reading Ambassadors are sponsored by Libraries LTD and Literary Society of Tucson.
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.
WOW Teen Reading Ambassadors invite you to meet New York Times best-selling author, Aprilynne Pike.
Glitter has been described as Breaking Bad meets Marie Antoinette. In the Kingdom of Sonoman-Versailles, the people dress, eat and act like it’s the eighteenth century–with the added bonus of technology to make court life lavish, privileged and frivolous. The palace has every indulgence, but for one pretty young thing, it’s about to become a very beautiful prison.
When Danica witnesses an act of murder by the young king, her mother makes a cruel power play… blackmailing the king into making Dani his queen. When she turns eighteen, Dani will marry the most ruthless and dangerous man of the court. She has six months to escape her terrifying destiny.
Six months to raise enough money to disappear into the real world beyond the palace gates. Her ticket out? Glitter. A drug so powerful that a tiny pinch mixed into a pot of rouge or lip gloss can make the wearer hopelessly addicted. Addicted to a drug Dani can sell for more money than she ever dreamed.
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 two free hours of professional development, so invite your favorite teacher.
Free parking is available at the surface parking lot north of the intersection of First and Vine. Paid parking is available at the Second St. Garage next door to the College of Education. Located just off of the 2nd St. streetcar stop.
Event details may change.
WOW Teen Reading Ambassadors are sponsored by Libraries LTD and Literary Society of Tucson.
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.
For more information on the WOW Teen Reading Ambassadors, read our latest press release.
Or go directly to the online application.
Join the Worlds of Words Teen Reading Ambassadors as we welcome Stephanie Elliot, author of Sad Perfect.
Sixteen-year-old Pea knows there has always been something wrong with the way she eats. When she’s finally diagnosed with a little-known eating disorder called Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (AFRID), her “picky eating” starts to make sense. Thanks to therapy, her loving yet dysfunctional family, and the support of her sweet and caring new boyfriend, Ben, Pea finally feels like she’s in control for the first time in her life. But when she decides to go off her antidepressants, things start to spiral out of control. It will take inner strength and the support of her loved ones to get the help she needs to begin to challenge her eating disorder.
Worlds of Words encourages anyone who is considering applying to become a Teen Reading Ambassador to come to this event. For more information about Teen Reading Ambassadorship, please visit (HERE). Students in grades 9-12 can also apply online.
By Zachary Steiner, Editorial Assistant for Worlds of Words
Worlds of Words seeks applications for the Teen Reading Ambassador initiative, a program in the University of Arizona College of Education offering a college experience with young adult literature to high school students. Ambassadors learn about young adult literature under the direction of faculty and staff with expertise in children’s literature, education, library science and marketing.
Teen Reading Ambassador George Ballenger introduces Bill Konigsberg, author of The Porcupine of Truth.
Tucson teens, Worlds of Words opens this meeting of our Teen Reading Ambassadors so that interested local high school students can experience the program and determine if it’s something you’d like to start in the fall.
We will discuss Sad Perfect by Stephanie Elliot and then introduce the Google suite as an organization tool. It is preferable that participants have already read the book, though not necessary. If you know that you’d like to come, we have four extra copies of the book. The teen ambassadors are preparing for July 14 when Stephanie Elliot will be in Worlds of Words.
We are recruiting a new group for Fall 2018. If you already know you want to be a Teen Reading Ambassador for the Fall 2018/Spring 2019 school year, simply complete our online application.
Join the Worlds of Words Teen Reading Ambassadors as we welcome Bill Konigsberg, author of The Porcupine of Truth. We are compelled by the search for and importance of belonging in this story of an epic road trip involving family history, gay history, the girlfriend our hero can’t have, the grandfather he never knew, and the Porcupine of Truth.
Carson Smith is resigned to spending his summer in Billings, Montana, helping his mom take care of his father, a dying alcoholic he doesn’t really know. Then he meets Aisha Stinson, a beautiful girl who has run away from her difficult family, and Pastor John Logan, who’s long held a secret regarding Carson’s grandfather, who disappeared without warning or explanation thirty years before. Together, Carson and Aisha embark on an epic road trip to find the answers that might save Carson’s dad, restore his fragmented family, and discover the “Porcupine of Truth” in all of their lives.
The University of Arizona Bookstore offers books for sale and autographing.
Event details may change, so check back for updates.
By Rebecca Ballenger, Coordinator of Outreach and Collections, Worlds of Words
Worlds of Words opened applications for a pilot program that positions local teens as reading ambassadors in their own high schools. Teens in the program interact with published authors of young adult literature, receive books by that author and share their experience with their peers to promote reading in their school communities. The Teen Reading Ambassador (TRA) initiative is administered by WOW in the University of Arizona College of Education.
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