{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Sara Amini: The Stories We Carry and the Friends Who See Them","description":" What can a graphic novel teach educators about belonging, friendship, and the inner lives of young people?  Sara Amini is an actor and author whose semi-autobiographical middle grade graphic novel Mixed Feelings started as a collection of essays before finding its real form. In this conversation, she and Tricia dig into why the graphic novel gave her a sharper way to tell a story about not fitting neatly into any one category, and what that means for the kids (and adults) who read it.  They talk about humor as a way into hard topics like racism, xenophobia, puberty, and loneliness. Sara explains how she thinks like a director when writing visually, and why graphic novels open up something different in classrooms that text alone doesn't reach. The conversation keeps circling back to a question worth sitting with: what are students carrying that we're not seeing, and what kinds of stories help us notice?  Want a free copy of Mixed Feelings? Email tricia@shiftingschools.com a screenshot of your podcast rating by April 15th to enter. ","author_name":"Shifting Schools: Conversations for K12 Educators","author_url":"http:\/\/www.shiftingschools.com","html":"<iframe title=\"Libsyn Player\" style=\"border: none\" src=\"\/\/html5-player.libsyn.com\/embed\/episode\/id\/40825150\/height\/90\/theme\/custom\/thumbnail\/yes\/direction\/forward\/render-playlist\/no\/custom-color\/87A93A\/\" height=\"90\" width=\"600\" scrolling=\"no\"  allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen><\/iframe>","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/assets.libsyn.com\/secure\/content\/200690340"}