>> Monica Valentine:
Well, good afternoon again
and welcome to the
National Book Festival.
My name is Monica
Valentine,
and I am a Program Specialist
in the Informal Learning
Office of the Library
of Congress.
Our next panel
drawing "Yaqui Delgado" features
author Meg Medina and author
illustrator Mel Valentine
Vargas, discussing the graphic
novel adaptation of "Yaqui
Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass."
Due out on September 5th from
Candlewick. Mel and Meg will
take questions after our
discussion.
So start thinking of what you
might like to ask them.
And our guests will also be
signing their books
from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m.
So now let's meet our guests.
Meg Medina is the current
national ambassador
of Young People's Literature,
a New York
Times best selling author who
writes picture books, as well as
middle grade, and young adult
fiction. Meg's incredible body
of work includes a range of
critically acclaimed and award
winning titles for children and
young adults such as "Mercy
Suarez Changes Gears."
"Mango, Abuela, and Me."
"Evelyn Del Rey is Moving Away,"
"Tia Isa Wants A Car."
"Mercy Suarez Can't Dance," and
"Burn Baby, Burn."
Mel Valentine Vargas is the
graphic novelist and illustrator
who has adapted "Yaqui
Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass."
Mel loves drawing minorities
and art that their younger self
needed while growing up.
Their work is largely inspired
by LGBTQ, Hispanic, and femme
experiences and is focused in
graphic storytelling with themes
that help highlight minority
lifestyles of all shapes and
sizes. It's Mel's goal to
ensure that their illustrations
help people who are not often
represented feel a little less
alone and a lot more love.
Mel has worked with several
publishers,
including Candlewick
and Little Brown.
They will also be featured in
an upcoming anthology of trans
and non-binary comics, "The
Outside."
Please welcome Meg Medina and
Mel Valentine Vargas.
[Applause]
>> Meg Medina: They look so
comfortable out there.
I mean, I wish I were in a
beanbag chair.
Yeah. Are they comfortable?
Oh, good.
>> Monica Valentine: Thumbs up.
So I have some questions that I
want you both to respond to and
a couple that I will give each
of you specifically.
But let's start off with some
questions for both.
And then Meg, if you would
answer first and then Mel, you.
So "Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick
Your Ass" has been with us since
2013. Tell us what it means to
complete this ten year cycle
with a graphic novel
adaptation.
>> Meg Medina: So it's scary to
think that 10 years
has gone by, right, since
I wrote the book.
So many things have
changed.
And the beautiful part of
writing a book that endures
is that, that you see kids who
read it when they were 13.
They're now 23, right?
And they've had all of
these experiences.
So that's been beautiful.
So now a book ages and there
are things in a book that
made sense ten years ago that
are different now.
And so when we were thinking
about how to celebrate the
anniversary of "Yaqui Delgado,"
we were thinking, "Well, what
could we do?" There was gonna
be a special anniversary
edition, it's very beautiful. If
you wanna take a look at that.
But we're also thinking that it
might be a good idea to bring
the story forward in a vehicle
a way that young people are
reading now 10 years later.
And that's where the genius of
Mal Valentine Vargas comes in,
the wonderful adaptation of the
book.
So I'm just delighted.
>> Monica Valentine:
Awesome, awesome.
Mel, would you like to reflect
on this cycle a little bit?
>> Mel Valentine Vargas: Yeah.
I always say this story,
but I did not know that this
book existed, when they reached
out to me to adapt
and illustrate this book.
So Candlewick sent me a copy of
the book and I read it and I was
like, "Oh my gosh, if I had
known that this book existed as
a teen, like I know that I
would have felt like a
gravitational pull towards this
book."
So it was really cool reading
it and then reading it again and
having to make, you know, notes
and highlighting stuff and
flagging different pages to
make sure that I am keeping this
book the way that it was
originally written, but then
also bringing it ten years
later, which I was just telling
Meg this, but like in the
original book, for example,
there's a landline and we don't
have those anymore.
>> Meg Medina:
Maybe you don't.
There is a landline at the
Medina Menendez home, barely
used, but it exists.
>> Monica Valentine: I've still
got one too.
>> Mel Valentine Vargas: But
yeah, so it's, you know, it..
>> Meg Medina: Can I also say
that the other joy is that
Mel and I share Cuban roots.
>> Monica Valentine:
Yes. Please talk about that.
>> Meg Medina:
I love that.
And so Mel's family is here
today as well.
>> Mel Valentine Vargas: Yes.
My dad and my sibling
are in the audience.
>> Meg Medina:
That's right. That's right.
[Applause]
And there's an understanding
there that happens around
language, around how families
operate, around how our families
talk to each other, like those
kinds of things.
And so when you trust somebody
with your book, right,
it's a leap of faith.
You're trusting them to capture
this thing that
was really important to you.
And writing about family is
really important to me.
And Mel really just got it So
exactly right. Yeah.
>> Monica Valentine: So the
conflict in "Yaqui" is one
that most of us can relate to.
Can you share with us, both of
you and Meg, first, why you
think it's important to explore
these difficult topics
and books for young people?
>> Meg Medina: Yeah. I think
because growing up
is bananas, I mean, do you think
that way? I think so.
It's just not that's.
Then they'll tell you. So yeah.
So I think that difficult
things happen to kids right
alongside the really funny and
wonderful things that happen to
them, right? They don't get on
the team that they wanted to get
on. They do great on a test,
they flunk the test.
The kid they like tells them
they smell like onions and, you
know, like all the things
happen at the same time.
Their parents are in conflict
at the same time that they find
a new best friend. And so that
that sweet and sour nature of
growing up is the thing.
And so bullying and feeling
targeted and feeling like not
that you're on the outside of
things, but also that you're
really facing something kind of
dangerous to you emotionally and
physically, in Yuki's case, I
think it was happening 10 years
ago, it was happening 30 years
ago, and it's happening right
now. And so just giving kids a
story that they can see that
exact experience and just sort
of ask themselves like, does
that happen in my classroom?
Am I the bully?
Am I Yaqui? Am I Piddy?
Like, what would I do?
Those kinds of things. I mean,
you know,
what do you think, Mel?
>> Mel Valentine Vargas: I mean,
I agree with what Meg is saying.
Unfortunately, bullying is
something that's it doesn't seem
like it's gonna stop now,
as much as I would love that.
And like I experienced it when
I was in school and like, I
mean, who has not, you know.
And I think that seeing
something and reading something
and knowing that this thing has
a word and I can talk about
this with other people
who have experienced this is,
just makes everything feel
lighter because you know that
you are not alone in this
endeavor and that this has
happened to other people. And
you don't have to feel ashamed
because this is happening to
you and nobody else.
And, you know, and even
if, like Meg is saying, even if
it hasn't happened to you, just
knowing how to look at it and
give something a word is just,
I think so important.
>> Meg Medina: I think shame
is like the hardest
part of being bullied.
Because you feel like a loser,
right. You feel and you
feel like everybody
sees that about you, right.
And it feels sometimes,
especially right now, in the era
of social media where things
go big right away and it feels
like a tsunami, right?
It just there's no way to sort
of battle it.
That loneliness, that
shame that gets attached to
bullying, I think we need to
name that for kids because as
you say, very rightly,
many people are bullied.
You could be bullied for
anything. You could be bullied
for not being attractive, for
being too attractive, for the
kind of sneakers you wear, for
the jacket you wear.
If you're smart or if
you're too smart, or if you're
not smart or, you know,
it's endless.
Your race, your
religion, it goes on and on and
on. And it's this arbitrary
thing of finding the way to make
someone feel small. Yeah.
>> Monica Valentine:
One thing I think is really
terrific is there are kids who
may never feel comfortable
talking about it with anyone
else, and at least they will
have books and literature where
they can see that someone else
has gone through or gone
through the same situation.
>> Meg Medina: I couldn't talk
to my mother
about it when it happened to me.
Were you able to talk with your
family as it was happening?
>> Mel Valentine Vargas:
I mean, yeah, but this is I
think, I don't think it just
happens in Hispanic households,
but I know it happens a lot in
like more like ethnic
households and stuff where
parents are like deal with it
with violence, you know. Where
it's like, "Oh, like they're
being mean to you,
like, be mean back," you know?
And I just did not have that in
me, you know.
And even when I would try to be
mean, it would just like not
work, you know, when you kind
of like try to give somebody
like a comeback and it
just is bad.
>> Meg Medina: Yeah, Yeah.
It falls flat and you're like.
>> Mel Valentine Vargas:
And then you look even more dumb
and you're just like, "Oh, no,"
you know? So yeah, I think but
I definitely was able to talk
with them about it.
And I mean, they wouldn't
always recommend violence.
They would be like, you know,
like tell your teacher, which I
think is honestly like good
advice in general, is just like,
tell somebody else, you know,
anybody.
But yeah, thankfully I was
able to talk to my parents about
it because just telling
somebody else just feels like
you're taking a weight off your
shoulders.
>> Meg Medina:
Yeah. So I'm going back in time.
I'm much older than Mel.
You know, the advice we used to
give kids was things like
"they're just jealous, ignore
them. They're just..."
Like these kind of solutions
that solve nothing.
But I remember not trusting,
I hate to say it, not trusting
my mom to be able to do anything
with the information or really,
for that matter, with my
teachers. Because I went to a
school
that the currency was toughness,
right.
And so I just didn't feel like
what were they gonna do for
me? And so I kept it a secret
and it just ate at me.
And I went through a very
similar thing that Piddy
goes through in this novel.
>> Mel Valentine Vargas:
Sometimes with my mom, it
was like,
sometimes I would avoid
telling her because she would
do too much at points.
I remember this one time...
>> Meg Medina: Did she have a
baseball bat somewhere?
>> Mel Valentine Vargas: No. But
this one time. Oh, my God.
I have a younger brother who is
two years under me and we went
to elementary school together.
And this one time we told her
"In the car line, you wait, you
sit down and you wait for your
parents to roll out the car."
And the teachers are like, you
know, getting your car.
And there was this kid who
would bother me
and my brother
specifically every day.
And he was just so, I mean,
anything.
I mean, it wasn't physical, but
it was very emotional.
And he would just call us like
a whole bunch of stuff.
And I made the mistake, which
again, also I guess is like a
godsend. I told my mom and she
was like, "Oh, like, show me.
Like, what does he look like?
Like, oh, blah, blah, blah."
And I was like, in my head, I
was like, "oh, she just like,
you know, she wants
to put like, a face to the name,
I get it." We go to school the
next day and she, like, comes
out of the car and drops us off
to our class.
And she's like, okay, like, I'm
going to bye, guys.
I'm going to go. And then later
that day, she and the kid.
So the positive part is that we
went to the car line later that
day and the kid would not even
look at me and my brother.
And I was like, "Wow, like, this
is going great."
My mom tells me that she went
up to him and she, like, did not
threaten him, but she was like,
"Don't you talk to my kids that
way or something." And to me,
that was very great because he
did not bother us. But then the
other part is like, "I am so
mortified that my mom talked to
this kid." So yeah.
>> Meg Medina: You never know
what the solution is.
It's just not an easy solution,
right?
Like, what are you gonna do?
>> Monica Valentine: It's not an
easy thing to navigate.
So, Mel, you talked a little
bit about how you came to this
project. If there's anything
more you'd like to share, we'd
love to hear that. But I was
also wondering if you would
reflect on if it's daunting to
adapt to what most of us
would call a YA classic.
>> Mel Valentine Vargas:
Yes. It's really crazy to
get this book or piece of media
in general that people already
love and have treasured for
years and for people to tell
you.
But we wanna make it new now,
especially since I didn't grow
up knowing that the book
existed. So it's like I'm also
coming into this as a new fan
of this book.
But as I mentioned, I wish I
had brought my copy that
Candlewick sent me because it
is full of highlighter marks and
like those little like Post-it
flags and they were color coded
that I had made a Post-it about
like what the colors meant.
And I just read it and I would,
at the same time, I was reading
it and I read it twice.
I would also make notes about
like things like, this character
does this. And if it's
something that's really
important or something like
that, because I wanted to really
keep this book as similar as
possible because it was already
so good. I did not see a point
in changing things other than to
modernize it in, you know, to,
so that kids now can understand
it, I guess, you know.
>> Monica Valentine:
Okay. Follow up to that.
Could you share, if there were
challenges to telling Piddy's
story through illustration and
what those might have been?
>> Mel Valentine Vargas: Yeah.
I think with chapter books, just
books in general, without
illustrations, sometimes things
can be left up to the
imagination. So you don't have
to describe these things that
can seem a bit inappropriate,
you know, like your mind can be
left to imagine what that is
going to look like.
And so it's hard when you're
making a graphic novel because I
don't really have the liberty
to not illustrate this very
important part of the book, like
when she is getting beat up.
Where it's, you know, that's
important and it happens in the
book, but it's like to draw
that, you know, like this
teenager going through this.
There's, you know, I mean, a lot
of the story is hard to
read and let alone like now I
am adding imagery to that.
>> Monica Valentine: So one more
for you, Meg, in this graphic.
I'm sorry for Mel. In this
graphic novel, text is kind of
minimal and the color palette
is, too.
Would you explain to us kind of
about those choices?
>> Mel Valentine Vargas:
They actually wanted to
have the
limited color palette.
And I was interested in doing
that because there is this other
book that I like called "Laura
Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me,"
and it is only in pink and
Different shades of black and
then the white of the page.
And I loved the art for that
book.
So I would not have
originally pictured this book in
limited color, but when they
told me that, I was like, "Okay,
that's cool," because I can draw
inspiration from this book that
I already love and that I know
other people like.
So the color was not really my
choice.
But honestly, I think the book
is great and I would not want it
in full color now that I see it
in this limited color palette.
But with the dialogue, I think
that people misunderstand really
how much dialogue there is in
chapter books.
I don't think there's as much
as we think there is.
I feel like we could probably
put all of the dialogue in most
of like the regular chapter
books that we read on, like
probably like a five page a
Google Doc, you know.
If you put it all like next to
each other, there's so much
description. And that was more
what I was trying to really make
part of, like when Piddy goes,
you know, the story
takes place in New York City,
and when Piddy goes
to the city there's a lot of
talking between her and the
person she's in the city with,
but it's like there's no need
for that.
When I'm drawing these pictures
I can draw them in the toy
store, I can draw them walking
down the city and I don't have
to put all of these pages of
imagery
and I can just, you know, draw
it in one page.
>> Monica Valentine:
So some of that description is
what fuels your illustration.
>> Mel Valentine Vargas:
Absolutely.
>> Monica Valentine:
Interesting. Okay.
Meg, I have a few
questions for you.
So why do you think Piddy
story is still so relevant 10
years after it was published?
>> Meg Medina: I just think
because it's still happening.
Because I think kids.. and
also,
I think sadly as a nation,
we've sort of begun to embrace
bullying ways of talking to one
another around topics that we
disagree with each other on
ridicule, making fun of shutting
down humiliation, targeting
people like that has become a
thing even among the adults who
should know better.
And so I think that it's still
everywhere around us.
So that that I think, is the
enduring quality.
And just I think because Piddy
spends a lot of time in her head
in the novel, like trying
to figure out who she actually
is. Like as a Latina, as a
student, as like her feelings
for this boy in the building.
Like she's trying to figure it
out.
And I think as kids are growing
up, like they're trying to
figure all those things out.
So I think the questions sort
of mirror the things
that they
are asking themselves.
>> Monica Valentine:
Would you talk a little bit
about the relationship between
Piddy and her mom?
Because that's a pretty
critical one in the book.
>> Meg Medina:
Yeah. So, you know...
all right. So I have to back
out to tell you about my own
mom. And so, first of all, this
issue that happened to Piddy
happened to me in the seventh
grade.
The first chapter of this novel
is essentially the exact
thing that happened to me in
the seventh grade.
And my mom passed away in
2013,
and I would love to tell you
that my mom and I had a close
relationship. But if I am being
honest with you, I would have to
tell you that we struggle
together a lot.
We had different opinions about
things.
We argued about things a lot.
We couldn't really, I don't
know. It was like this a lot.
And I think a lot of us have
that relationship with our mom,
had nothing to do with love.
A lot of love between us and a
lot of struggle.
And so I was trying to capture
that
in this novel. Piddy's mother
is working hard at a job that's
thankless, she wants good
things for her daughter, but
she's hard around the edges.
She's tired.
She can't fuss with this girl
and this nonsense.
And so she's also keeping
secrets, important secrets from
her daughter about who Piddy's
father is and important things
that Piddy should know.
So like, I tried to draw
mothers and daughters sometimes
as they are, and for the
mothers and daughters who are
out there in the
audience now, I would say like,
the relationship you have like
is ever evolving, right?
It changes and there's gonna
be like wonderful years when you
get it, you know,
you are in sync
and years when you're not
in sync. And we come through it,
you know. But it's okay.
It's part of that relationship.
So that's really the most
important thing.
And then in the end, you know,
each recognizing the strength
that the other has, I think
that I hope came
through in the novel, too.
>> Monica Valentine:
It did. Very much so.
So what would you summarize as
sort of the main message that
you wanted readers to take away
from "Yaqui?"
And would you share with us who
you really wrote this book for?
>> Meg Medina:
Yeah. I never know the message
because I'm writing it as lost.
Okay. So when I'm writing,
maybe you draw this way.
I don't know. I go back to the
age that I was.
So I go, in this novel,
I went back to 15 when I was
really angry. And I was really
unsettled, and I was doing many
wrong things.
Yeah. And so that rage,
that bitter thing,
right, of teens I tried to grab
and put in the novel.
But when you write that way,
you're not really thinking,
"And now what will I tell
children about this experience?"
Like it takes, you know, like
to write for young people,
I think you have to resist
that.
You have to resist becoming the
adult in it for a long time, and
you have to write it like in
all its ugliness.
And then at the end you sort of
start to reflect how to shape
it. So, you know, for
me, being able to talk to people
about what's happening to you,
figuring out how to find your
voice when you're afraid.
Figuring out who's going to
stand up for you.
Sometimes it's your parents,
sometimes it's a teacher, a
guidance counselor,
sometimes it's a friend that
you'd never believe would stand
up for you. And there they are.
But just figuring out that
piece. And can I just say one
thing about the city drawing?
Because this made me remind me.
So there were
lots of descriptions...
and so we worked together
and didn't work together, right?
So I had very like, Mel had
complete control and I would
just get sketches every once in
a while, right?
And so I grew up in New York,
and I got a panel and there's,
should we tell them the Easter
egg?
>> Mel Valentine Vargas:
Yeah. I don't think my
mic is working and. Oh, yes, it
is. Okay. Yes.
>> Meg Medina: Mel drew us
into this graphic novel.
We're in there somewhere.
And so I look fabulous,
thank you, by the way.
So we're in there,
but in one of the sketches, it
was a city street, and I could
picture it in my mind.
And there were no cars on this
street and there
were no other people.
>> Mel Valentine Vargas:
And let me tell you why that is.
I hate drawing cars.
>> Meg Medina: Okay.
But I made them draw a card
because I said, "What city has
like,
is this after the apocalypse?
What has happened to the people?
Where are the cars and the
people?"
So we put them back in.
So that's so funny.
That's so funny because writers
try to cheat things like, "I
don't think I'm gonna write
that chapter because I don't
like writing X thing."
And so it's good to know.
>> Mel Valentine Vargas: I feel
like you guys get away
with that so
much more because like, I mean,
if I don't draw a car, it's
like, why is there no car here?
There's a part where they're
laughing at a bike.
I hate drawing bikes, but I had
to draw this tandem bicycle.
But it turned out great.
But I was like, "No, the bike
panel is coming."
>> Meg Medina:
So that's really funny.
we all have things that we're
like, "I can't do that."
Even though people think you
can do it.
And then you figure out
you can by doing. Yeah.
>> Mel Valentine Vargas:
That and animals.
I also don't like
drawing animals.
>> Meg Medina: All right. What's
your worst thing to draw?
>> Mel Valentine Vargas:
I don't have. Cars,
I would have to say cars.
>> Meg Medina: Cars.
>> Monica Valentine:
And you made her do that?
Well, Mel, I'd also like
you to respond.
Was there a certain message
that you wanted people to get
that might have been different
from what Meg intended in your
adaptation? And then was there
a specific kind of person that
you were illustrating for when
you took it on?
>> Mel Valentine Vargas:
I think it goes back to what I
like to do with my work in
general is that it's very
important for me to for people
to see something that I have
created and see themselves
within that or see an
experience that they've gone
through. And I mean, I would be
foolish to believe that I am a
creator that can give that to
everybody,
you know. I mean, nobody
can do that.
But to know that, like, this is
a Hispanic character, you know,
who got bullied and has all
these
other experiences that are so
universal and I went through
that is so important to me.
And so I think I'm drawing for
kids who are like me. You know,
any kid, you know, like
Piddy is a girl. So I'm, right,
like I'm drawing this for girls.
Piddy is Hispanics,
so I'm drawing this for
Hispanic kids. Piddy is a teen,
so I'm drawing this for teens.
There's so much that I
think about when I'm drawing
these things other than, you
know, "Are people gonna like
how I drew this thing?
Are people gonna notice this
like little whatever that I drew
here?" So yeah, it's important
for me for people to
relate to my work on a larger
scale and not just think that
this looks nice, which is also
nice for people to think that my
art is nice. But yeah.
>> Monica Valentine:
And the beauty of it is though,
you might be writing or drawing
for a specific audience,
everyone benefits from it, you
know, any kid can pick it up and
sort of hopefully see their self
mirrored in that. So yeah.
>> Meg Medina:
That has happened.
I've had people from like vastly
different backgrounds,
absolutely not. I think one
woman, young woman was from
Wisconsin and she, you know,
blonde lady and she said, that's
my story. I was like, "Okay. 
Let it be your story."
And that's fine. And that's the
magic of books, I think, right?
Like, you can read a book about
someone from a completely
different culture, a different
set of experiences, and
something in it feels really
universal.
And I think how we get there is
writing or drawing it like,
super honestly to the experience
because that's I think,
what kids can respond to.
They can smell a rat when
you're cleaning it up and
sanitizing.
>> Monica Valentine: Yeah.
They definitely know when
something is not authentic.
>> Meg Medina: I think so.
>> Mel Valentine Vargas:
And also, I think it's important
for people to read books that
also don't relate to them so
that you
can understand that:group better.
I found some of my favorite
books that I've read are from
like, you know, groups that I
will never belong to.
And it's just amazing to read
something and understand
people better in general.
>> >> Meg Medina: I agree.
>> Monica Valentine:
So, Meg, you have had 10 years
now to get feedback
and reader reactions
from "Yaqui Delgado Wants
to Kick Your Ass."
>> Meg Medina:
Yes. So many reactions.
>> Monica Valentine:
Can you think of a couple of
those that you might like to
share with us that were
stand out for you?
>> Meg Medina:
Yeah. I mean, guess which the
first reaction is, is like, "You
titled the book what?"
And so "Hair on Fire," "Sparks,"
you know,
problems that way. So I do
get that reaction still.
And what I always say is I am
pretty sure that teens this is a
YA novel, have heard the word
ass and I think I suspect and
that the experience in the book
is very reminiscent of what
they see in their school.
So that's one reaction.
Another reaction happened here
I think at at one of the
National Book Festival, a mom
came with her daughter into my
signing line and I signed the
book for her.
And the young woman moved on.
But the mom stayed,
and she said to me, "I read this
book with my daughter
and I wanna tell you,
it made me think
of a girl in high school.
I really gave her a hard time."
And I feel like I need to find
her and apologize. Yeah.
And so that felt
important to me.
And the other reaction that
happens sometimes, usually when
I'm in schools is there's
always like, I'll finish the
thing and the audience
empties out and there's always 1
or 2 kids who stay behind.
And it's usually a kid who
comes up and says, "My bully's
name is so-and-so.
I don't know what to do."
They just like, they come
and say...
>> Monica Valentine:
They trust you.
>> Meg Medina: Yeah. The hard
thing is, I can stand with them
in solidarity. I can promise them
that there is an,
exit eventually, right,
that this passes.
But the hardness of the
situation, the only thing
I can do with them is be with
them and use this book as a way
to say, I see you, I know this
hurts. I know it does.
So, yeah, those are three
reactions that are sort of
typical of how the book has
been, so.
>> Monica Valentine:
Thank you.
So talking about reactions, I
just want to say it's been a
pleasure to watch your
relationship Meg
with the Library of Congress
blossom over the
years, and you are now serving
as the national ambassador for
Young People's Literature.
You can give a hand clap for
that.
[Applause]
I wondered if you
would share with us your
experience so far, what it's
been like?
What have been the challenges?
What have been the rewards?
>> Meg Medina: Yeah. Man.
So it's a very shiny thing.
It's a really, really fun
thing.
I also wanna start by saying
that the former
ambassador was
Jason Reynolds.
Have you ever had to follow
Jason Reynolds?
It's a tough gig, man.
You know, it's a tough gig
because this is not
Jason Reynolds, right.
And so he is
one of my favorite people in the
world. And he has been so
generous in his time and his
advice. I've gone to Newburgh,
I've gone to Louisiana.
I'm gonna be going to
Nashville, to Idaho, to
Washington State. So schools
apply,
and I come. And I've asked to go
to schools and communities where
the school library, and the
community library,
and families are in connection.
So I'm really interested in I
go to schools and I talk to kids
about the books that I'm
reading that I really love, and
then I give them a chance to
tell me about the books that
they're reading that they think
I should be reading.
And so I have this enormous
book list going from
recommendations from, everything
from "Dog Man'
to "Manga" to horror,
like all kinds of stuff that
I'm reading now.
And then the last thing is that
I'm gonna be working on
creating an archive of
recording authors who are
writing incredible work for
young people right now.
I wanna ask them their best, to
read me their best minute of
their writing or what they
think is the best minute of
their writing. I want them to
tell me one thing they think is
true about growing up, and one
thing they think is true about
reading in their lives and in
the lives of children just for a
minute or two. So that at the
Library of Congress we have this
archive that says that
children's literature is
important, the young people's
voices are important, and to
sort of catalog and honor this
group of new voices writing.
So it's been beautiful. I mean,
kids are just, they're funny,
they're... they make me laugh.
They make you feel really
welcome. The teachers and
librarians are going just out
of their minds, like just
helping to welcome me.
And the Library of Congress is
a beautiful space.
And all of you, Monica and
others, Anya and everyone at the
library, couldn't be more open
and welcoming.
And when you go there like.
"Meg, you're here,"
and you're like, "Oh,
I wanna live in Washington D.C.
Forget Richmond." So, you know,
and I have these
beautiful experiences.
So the day that I have to give
up and like it's the next
ambassador, it's gonna be a
dark day.
It's gonna be a tough day.
>> Monica Valentine: We're not
even thinking about that yet...
>>Meg Medina: Okay, good, good.
Let's not think about that.
>> Monica Valentine:
When you started and I think
this is one of the few times
we've had like an ambassador
who's already been researching
at the library and had a
relationship with the library.
>> Meg Medina: Yes, for sure.
I did Lots of "Burn Baby, Burn."
I did a lot of
research for "Burn, Baby, Burn"
here. And we're creating a
source box.
So you guys will be able to see
all this stuff that I found here
at the library when I was
working on that novel.
And I'm going to be having
office hours, by the way.
Yes. Quarterly on Saturdays.
So anybody who wants to come,
we can come hang out 20 minutes
or so. I'll give you a little
tour of the place.
I give you some swag,
answer any questions.
We could just be together.
So I'm trying to make the
position, not the ambassador of
young people's, you know, like I
would like it to be something
more connected to the kids that
we're serving.
>> Monica Valentine:
Awesome. Awesome.
And for those
of you who are wondering and
already wanting to know how you
sign up for those office hours,
just keep your eyes on loc.gov.
Eventually it'll be up on the
website. Okay. All right.
So in these audiences, I'm
certain we always have aspiring
writers and probably aspiring
illustrators.
With the two of you, take a
moment to offer some advice to
aspiring illustrators and
authors.
>> Mel Valentine Vargas:
Yeah. Do you wanna go first?
>> Meg Medina:
No, I want you to go first.
>> Mel Valentine Vargas:
I don't know. As a kid, I loved
to draw and I loved to, like,
sit down and do, like, an
activity with my hands.
And I think that that is a
lesson that I think me as an
adult really took in a stride,
is just that like to do
something that you want to do,
you have to do it.
I find a lot of people, I mean,
I would be a senior in college
and we would get in freshmen or
we would have like an open house
in college where prospective
students would come or
something. And they were like,
"I wanna do art,
I wanna do comics." And the
first thing I would always ask
is like, "Well, let me see some
of what you've done, because I
would love to, you know, what
kind of work do you do?"
And a lot of them don't have
any.
And I thought that was crazy
because it's like, how do you
want to do something and not do
it?
Which I get it. It's scary,
and comics are scary.
And I'm sure writing, I mean,
I've tried to write,
it's scary. But it's like you
have to do it even if it's bad,
it's always gonna be bad at
first.
I mean, the first page of any
graphic novel is going to look
worse than the final page of a
graphic novel because you've
been drawing a 280 something
page book
and you're gonna
get better know, you know.
So I think that something I can
say to anybody who wants to
aspire to do anything, I don't
think this just works with
illustration is to just do it
and have fun with it, and draw
what you wanna draw and you
don't even have to publish it.
You don't have to show it to
anybody,
but you have to be making work.
>> Meg Medina:
Did you take a lot of art
classes, like when you
were a kid?
>> Mel Valentine Vargas:
No, I had like the art that was
in elementary school.
I went to an arts magnet middle
school and high school, but I
wasn't even there for
illustration. I did costuming
for a really long time, but I
draw,
I drew a lot of people when I
was doing costuming because you
had to design the outfits.
That was my favorite part.
I loved doing that.
So yeah. Even just taking
classes, watching YouTube
videos, I don't know, watching
a lot of animated shows also
like inspired me a lot.
So just really diving into
something that you love
I think is really important.
>> Meg Medina:
Do you do animation at all?
>> Mel Valentine Vargas: No.
It's really hard, people people
underestimate
how difficult animation is.
I did go to college with a
minor in animation specializing
in stop motion because I like
little tiny things and all the
stop motion like props are
really small.
And so I really liked making
them.
>> Meg Medina: Like Mel, Mel
the Shell, or like is he stop
motion?
>> Mel Valentine Vargas: Marcel
The shell, is that it?
but yes, kind of like that.
But my favorite part wasn't
even the animating of the stop
motion figures. It was like
making the little pieces
of things.
>> Meg Medina: Making "Marcel."
>> Mel Valentine Vargas:
Yes, making "Marcel."
>> Meg Medina: If you have not
seen "Marcel the Shell."
Have you seen
"Marcel the Shell?"
>> Monica Valentine: I've heard
it, I've never seen it.
>> Mel Valentine Vargas:
Just to be clear, I have
no part in the making of
"Marcel the Shell."
>> Meg Medina:
Listen, it is really good.
It is very sweet.
I didn't think I could cry over
a shell.
Monica Valentine:
Oh, my goodness.
>> Meg Medina: And I did.
It was really, I don't know,
surprisingly deep.
I was trapped on a flight.
And I said, all right, I'd seen
everything.
And so I'm watching "Marcel the
Shell."
It was funny,
it was deep. It was all things.
But we're not talking about
"Marcel the Shell,"
we're here to talk about "Yaqui
Delgado."
>> Monica Valentine: Yes, yes.
And right now, we're talking
about advice for aspiring
writers.
>> Meg Medina:
Yes, I'm with you.
I think you got to do it.
And you have to be willing to
be terrible at the beginning.
I'm writing this novel now,
I'm working on a fantasy.
And I wrote it saying to
myself, "I want to write
something I've never written
before.
I want to scare myself.
I want to stretch myself.
I want to try something new."
And then the problem with all
that is that then you have to do
it, right? And then you are
scared and you are stretching
yourself. And that is never,
you know, it's not comfortable.
It's good, but it's not
comfortable.
So I'm in the second draft of
it and the first draft like I
liked the first half, but when
I reread the second half, I said
to myself, "This is terrible,
you know,
it's awful. And so on, right
on, right."
And I just carved it out and I
put it. I have a file in my
computer called the cemetery,
where I put all the
buried bodies over there.
But you know what's interesting
about the cemetery?
I don't know if maybe you do
this with some of your, like,
original drawings, like there
might be a piece or two of a
body in there that I might
want, and then I just take like,
is it a name or a little event?
And I rescue it and I put it
back in.
But yeah. I think you
do it and you take a lot of
classes, you sign up
for magazine or journalism.
I did a blog,
I recorded a podcast with a
girl named Ashara who's here.
She's nine. She's doing her own
podcast.
And so stuff like that that
teaches you how to write
questions, how to write for
sound, for how people sound, all
those things just do it.
Yeah. That's the only way to
get better.
Did you like writing
as a kid?
>> Monica Valentine: Good
advice. I loved writing
as a kid. As an adult,
I'm not the biggest fan, but
yeah, you're right.
Diving in is just the best way
to do it.
And that's what drafts are all
about.
If it's not great the first
time, rewrite, right?
>> Meg Medina:
So I have to ask this other
thing because now you're a
librarian. Another beautiful
book career, right?
That's the other thing that all
of these things are like careers
for people who love books and
words,
right? there's
marketing, there's publicity of
books, there's illustrating
them, there's writing them,
there's loving them, right?
Being a librarian.
So did your love of
writing become, is that the
trajectory you took to become a
librarian?
>> Monica Valentine:
I think so. Well, first, I will
clarify that I am not a
librarian because I respect
librarians, so I don't want to
mask myself as one.
I'm a library program
specialist.
But you're right, it's the same
kind of work, and it's all
fueled by a love of books and a
love of language that I got from
my mother. So that's how I got
there.
And when I have experiences
like this, like I'm having on
stage with you guys today, I
always say that is for her.
Because she fueled that, that
love of language and of books
for me. So thank you for asking
me about me.
Meg Medina: No. For sure.
I love all books. I'm always
interested in how people become
book lovers, right?
I find that it's interesting.
We come into so many different
paths, like all these kids one
day who are here lying down on
these very comfortable beanbag
chairs are gonna look back
and say, "How I became a book
lover. I think my mother used to
take me to the national book."
It'll be stuff like that.
That's really kind of cool.
>> Monica Valentine: I
saw her reading and that made me
want to learn to read all the
more because one, I was nosy
and two because I could just
tell that it filled her.
She loved it, she enjoyed it.
She was in a better mood after
she finished a book, so. Yeah.
>> Meg Medina:
Yeah. Oh, that's good to know.
>> Monica Valentine:
Always in a better mood after
she finished a book.
So, Meg, we have heard a little
bit about what's coming for you.
You gave us a preview of your
next activities as ambassador.
And Mel, I'd like to give you a
chance to talk about any
upcoming projects that you
have.
Well, first, you've got to get
this one out, right?
This is due out September 5th,
but is there anything else in
the works you want to share?
>> Mel Valentine Vargas:
Yeah. Another graphic novel that
I illustrated is coming out in
April of next year, and it's
called "Pillow Talk," and it's
about the pillow fighting
league in Canada,
which is a real thing.
Where these amazing women
pillow fight.
And it sounds like,
oh, like sleepover girly, but
like they wear knee pads and
helmets, so. But the book is
about that and it's very fun.
It was written by Stephanie
Cooke, and I'm very excited
about it. So check that out.
And yeah. The other projects I
can't talk about, but very
exciting stuff. I love graphic
novels,
so that is what I am doing.
>> Monica Valentine:
Great, great. Well, we'll look
for more incredible work from
you in the future.
So now it's time for audience
questions.
I just wanna point out we've
got mics on the left and on
the right. And if you would
like to share a question with
Meg or Mel, you can just start
lining up. And we will alternate
starting on the left and then
popcorning over to the right.
Come on up. No. It's a
little low.
>> I can just crouch if
that's fine. I'm very tall.
>> Meg Medina:
It's made for them, right?
>> I work for the library, so I
share your love of books.
But I do visual communications,
and I started illustrating.
And my question is probably
more for you, Mel.
I am working on a book that
involves a character for the
first time, and I just wanted
to know what is your process for
sort of figuring out what a
character looks like, and then
getting the different angles
right?
>> Mel Valentine Vargas:
I mean, a lot of that is
practicing for the angles.
When I first started drawing, I
was like, "How do I make this
character look the same every
single time without the use of
color," which I think helps so
much.
But when you're just doing line
art, it's like, "Does this
character even look like the
same person?"
But I think a lot of my process
in making a character look a
certain way, this book is an
exception, considering that it
was already written and I was
writing very meticulous notes on
like of what a character looked
like.
If Meg said that this character
has, you know, blank.
Is making a character
look something like in a way
that I want to draw, you know. I
love drawing a hair, so I like
to give characters hair that I
really want to draw over and
over again. And cool clothes that
I think is cute that I think
will be fun to illustrate in
movement. So I think honestly,
just having fun with it, like
don't put yourself through
something that you're just not
gonna wanna draw, you
know. And then practice, which I
know is lame, but just
practice, practice
is honestly like, yeah.
It's just like the most
important thing when it comes
to, I think, any art field.
So, yeah. I hope that helps.
>> Monica Valentine:
Thanks for the question.
So now on this side.
>>  Hello. My name is Jamil.
Pleasure to meet you guys.
I had a question for Mel.
Nice to meet you.
>> Mel Valentine Vargas: Nice
to meet you.
>> In regards to being a
illustrator or artist, who does
a medium similar to pencils and
pens and stuff like that.
I'm a fan of animation,
I've noticed that the style has
changed drastically almost
like the longer the show goes
on for.
Would you say it's a similar
experience as an illustrator?
As you grow older, does your
style change or adapt
or improve?
>> Mel Valentine Vargas:
Oh my God, yes. Yeah,
absolutely. I think anybody who,
I mean
writers too, I'm sure. Anybody who
does any form of art, I feel
like you go through this like
metamorphosis, you know, and
it's always gonna be changing.
And I used to say like, "Oh,
I've gotten better," but like, I
don't even want to use that
word anymore.
I think you just change in how
you want to do things and you
just find more enjoyable ways.
You find easier ways to do
something.
Because I look at my art back
in college and I don't think it
was bad, but it's so different
now and I don't think that that
is bad to make different
looking art and being like, you
know, I used to really
like to do tangible drawings.
I would do with brush pen and I
don't do that anymore.
This entire book is done on my
iPad, and it's changed the style
that I work in because I'm
working in a completely
different medium that is very
controlled, in which I can erase
constantly. So yeah, I mean,
changing is okay.
And I think it's important,
honestly, that you are changing
and you're getting influenced
by work that you are seeing and
that you like.
So yeah. I hope that helps.
>> Thank you.
>> Mel Valentine Vargas: Yeah.
Of course. Thank you.
Nice to meet you.
>> Monica Valentine:
And we're back on the left.
>> Hello. I was wondering,
so, Mel, you worked on,
you made the graphic novel with
just based on the actual novel,
right? Was it better to...
was it more helpful to use like
an actual novel or would it be
more helpful in like a
specifically scripted
format for like...
>> Mel Valentine Vargas: For
comics?
I wouldn't say one is
better than the other,
they are so different.
Reading something that has
already has is such a labor of
love and again is already so
loved within the reader
community, and making sure that,
you know, like
Piddy, there's a part in the
book where, for example, like
Piddy is said to look a certain
way.
I think, like the neighbor
calls her toad because her eyes
are slightly farther apart than
normal is a part of the book.
And I tried illustrating
that at first, too.
And it's just like you want to
make sure that you are putting
in these pieces of these
characters that are just like,
you know. So I gave those eyes
to her mom,
I remember, because I was like,
I want her to look like her mom,
you know? So, yeah.
So I think in that way it's
easy because like a lot of the
thinking work of characters is
done for me because Meg has
already written these
characters and created them, as
opposed to my book
"Pillow Talk,"
which is coming out next year, as
the author had these ideas of
what the characters looked like
and did a Pinterest board for
them, which is honestly
an incredible artist tool.
I love Pinterest. But she made
these boards of what these
characters would look like, but
she didn't give me any like
specific facial details or
anything, you know?
And so that was fun for me,
but it wasn't a lot of ways
more work because I am creating
this character from the ground
up in a way. So yeah.
>> Monica Valentine: All right.
We'll go back to this side.
Did you have a question? Okay.
We'll get there.
>> Sorry. My question
was for Meg.
I just was wondering, like what
you drew you to writing,
children's literature and young
adult literature.
I know, like, you could write
anything, but you chose this
kind of genre. I don't know
what drew you to that.
>> Meg Medina:
Yeah, I think because.
I don't know. I feel like
most of us can name the book,
our favorite book when we were a
kid. Most of us can, book
lovers can.
They remember that book
really well, and where they were
when they read it, and all those
things.
So I think children's books
occupy this really special
foundational place inside
people. So that was one draw.
And I just feel like
growing up is really hard,
it's beautiful and hard.
And so when I write, I feel like
I'm writing to sort of
understand what happened to me
as I grew up and then be able to
sort of hold a light up for
kids coming behind me sort of to
make their own conclusions
about the things that I noticed
going forward.
So that's how.
>> Yhank you.
>> Meg Medina: You're welcome.
>> Monica Valentine: We'll go on
this side and then hold on,
I promise we'll get to you.
>> So when you're drawing
characters, do you prefer a lot
more creativity like with the
Pinterest board, or do you
prefer the character
written with all of the things
that are on them?
Or do you prefer like the
author or whoever is giving you
this character to then draw
like a character sheet where
they already draw the character
and then you can draw them again
and again, and again?
>> Mel Valentine Vargas:
Yeah, like having the people
originally draw like a standard,
like, this is what this
character already looks like?
I have never had that,
actually.
No. Usually the authors are not
illustrators.
Otherwise, like, they often do
their own books if they are not
every time. So they often don't
have this tangible like this is
what this character looks like.
Which I really like as a
creative and as an artist is
like, "Here is my opportunity to
put my own flavor on this."
Because if I mean this book as
an example of somebody else
would have done this book, it
would have looked completely
different, you know? And maybe
the story would have been told
differently. So I kind of prefer
having a little more creative,
what's it called? Like...
>> Meg Medina: License?
>> Mel Valentine Vargas:
Yes, creative license with how
the characters look and being
able to maybe make one of the
characters look like my friend
who reminds me of this
character or I don't know. I
really like drawing this kind
of hair.
So, you know, stuff like that.
So I like that.
I recommend Pinterest because
it's just such a great place to
put all these like imagery.
I'm a very visual person, so
putting all these visual pieces
together and being able to look
at that board every time you
need inspiration on this
character who really likes yada,
yada, yada, and making the board
filled with those things and
being able to be inspired by
that constantly. So yeah.
>> Monica Valentine: Thank you.
>> Mel Valentine Vargas:
Thank you.
>> Monica Valentine:
Okay. Your turn.
>> When you were younger and you
were drawing, did you ever get
upset at how your drawing
looked like?
You were like, "No, I don't
think this is good."
And then, like, you just like,
sort of
started to kind of move away
from drawing because you were
looking down on yourself
thinking
that you couldn't draw right?
>> Mel Valentine Vargas:
That's a really good question
That happens to me today.
I think that happens for anybody
who does something, right?
Is just like, "This sucks and I
don't wanna do it anymore."
It's just normal. It's a part of
like any job is that
you're gonna come across
these parts where you're just
like,
"This is so bad and I don't
know how I'm gonna make it
better." I've experienced that
like my whole life. And I think
that anybody can say
that like they've tried to draw
something and it doesn't look
the way that they want it to
look. And that's normal,
I think you just continue to
draw it and you work on it.
If it helps something
specifically that I heard once
that I was like, "Oh my God,
this is so true." It's
sometimes better to draw
something over and over again
different times rather than
drawing it once and trying to
fix it from that copy.
I don't know if you feel,
I don't know if
writing is this way.
>> Meg Medina:
Writing has the same thing.
Like you'll write... you
have what you wanna
achieve in your mind, right?
And then you put the words on
the page and they fall flat.
Like they don't feel artful,
they don't feel good,
they don't feel anything.
And I've had moments like
that, too, where I even today,
these days, where I don't know
how to fix it.
I'll tell you, though, the
beauty in having friends who are
creative and having editors, as
you say,
"I don't know how to fix
this. What do you think?"
And sometimes someone
else's eyes can help you, just
give you some ideas.
So you have to sort of get past
the the fear or the shame of
sharing it, right, when it's
terrible and just say, "Yeah, I
think this is terrible.
Not sure how to fix it.
What do you think?"
And just hearing the different
ideas. Do you do that?
>> Mel Valentine Vargas:
Oh my God, absolutely.
Most of my friends also went to
art college with me and a lot of
us will draw things and we'll
be like, "This looks weird.
Like, how do I fix this?"
You know, because it's hard
sometimes, you know?
So it's totally normal for you
to hate your work, but you just
got to like work to like it,
I guess.
>> Thank you so much.
I think I'm gonna be an author.
>> Monica Valentine: All right.
I think we have time
for the one more question.
>> I don't really have
a question,
but I wanted to say I did
reading Olympics last year, and
I read,
Mercy Suarez's "Changes Gears,"
and it was like a big book.
And I'm like, well, might as
well try it,
and it towards the end it made
me cry a lot.
And I really well, I'm like,
"Don't cry. Don't cry,
wait until you get home."
>> Meg Medina: Yeah, I know.
I had the same experience when
I was writing it.
[Laughing]
The same thing, man. It's like,
"Hold it together,"
like, you know. But thank you
for reading it
and
thank you for sticking with it.
And thank you for like, being
open hearted when you read it.
Because the fact that you cried
tells me that you read this book
with your mind open and your
heart open.
And that's the best way to read
a book. Yeah. Thank you.
>> Monica Valentine: Thank you
for that question.
I think that is a marvelous way
to end.
>> Mel Valentine Vargas:
Yeah. That was beautiful.
[Laughing]
[Applause]
[Upbeat music]