Sara Amini: The Stories We Carry and the Friends Who See Them

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.