Episode

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

Podcast
Shifting Schools: Conversations for K12 Educators
Published
Apr 13, 2026
Duration seconds
1466
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https://pod.shiftingschools.com/
Audio
https://pdrl.fm/f0d9c7/pdcn.co/e/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/traffic.libsyn.com/secure/shiftingourschools/13_April_mixdown.mp3?dest-id=621226
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Markdown
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Summary

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 [email protected] a screenshot of your podcast rating by April 15th to enter.