Event Diaries: Tea Talks Book Club- Sips of Storytelling and Self
Settled in with a cozy cup and curious hearts, we spent the summer sipping our favorite drink, exchanging stories, and making art that spoke from within.
Colorado AANHPI girls and gender-expansive youth in grades 6–8 gathered in a welcoming virtual space—one created just for them—to explore identity, culture, and connection in ways that felt honest and affirming. Guided by our Programs Coordinator, Annabel, Tea Talks returned for its second year!
Before this year’s session started, Annabel created and hand-delivered a Tea Talks Book Club kit for each student. Each kit contained materials for each creative activity like watercolor pencils, paintbrushes, cardstock, and fun metallic markers, and two books they will be reading in Session 2 and 3- Tidesong by Wendy Xu & You Are Here: Connecting Flights by Traci Chee, Mike Chen, Meredith Ireland, Mike Jung, Erin Entrada Kelly, Minh Le, Grace Lin, Ellen Oh, Linda Sue Park, Randy Ribay, Christina Soontornvat, and Susan Tan. But, it wouldn’t be complete without some delicious snacks, stickers, and a personalized note from Annabel. 💜
Each gathering offered something a little different, but all of them held space for vulnerability, creativity, and growth. Here's a look into the conversations, emotions, and artwork that blossomed across our three summer gatherings!
☕ Session 1: Diaspora Nova by Monica Ong
For the first session, Tea Talks kicked off by reading Diaspora Nova by Monica Ong, a poem that sparked deep emotions and personal insights:
When we leave home, we might lose our sense of being. Coming back home means we come back to our center.
After processing the poem, we felt inspired, empathetic, curious, bittersweet, and sorrowful. We also feel grateful- sometimes when we love our people and our family, we might need to make sacrifices to be happy.
Water and formless are words that are connected to each other. Water takes the shape of whatever you put it in, and without a home to go back to or rely on, we might feel “formless” too.
Like animals in a forest, people might need to adapt to different environments (and shift their emotions or reactions) for survival.
This poem can be read in different ways and orders. This might relate to how people have different experiences, stories, and perspectives, all within one context or environment.
Inspired by Monica Ong’s work, students began crafting their own pieces of visual poetry—each one a unique expression of identity and emotion. Students used watercolor pencils and a brush, playing with textures, patterns, and colors- take a look at their beautiful art below!
As time came to a close, students shared from their “head, heart, and hand”—offering thoughtful reflections on what they learned, felt, and created 💜:
I felt relaxed and inspired.
I felt peaceful while making my art.
I felt very comfortable with the community
I felt really moved and I felt like I belonged
Heart: I felt really happy and relaxed
I felt included and I felt like I was apart of community.
🌊 Session 2: Tidesong by Wendy Xu
In our second session, we dove into Tidesong by Wendy Xu. After “meeting the author,” students read and reflected on the internal world of the main character, here are some topics that they shared and noticed:
Xu’s main characters’ are “femme,” but what does that mean? We learned about the difference between using she/her pronouns and having a gender expression that is feminine in traditional ways. These conversations opened up space to reflect on how identity is shaped not only by how we see ourselves, but also by how others expect us to be.
The main characters’ mom and grandma count on the main character a lot and have high expectations. Unintentionally, this results in a negative internal dialogue, self-doubt, and pressure.
Students then explored the title itself, interpreting “tidesong,” thinking about how the sounds of the ocean can call us in, forward, and towards.
On the page featured above, students talked about what the character was feeling when sharing her internal dialogue. Was she nervous sweating? Or was she shedding a few tears? The way we interpret the illustrations can be heavily influenced by our own experiences.
The face we show on the outside might not match our internal feelings and thoughts.
The fantastical, magical elements of the illustrations. Like chickens… with teeth😱
For this session’s creative activity, students created landscape bookmarks inspired by the places and people that brought them joy, peace, and safety. 💖
During our second session’s closing “Head, Heart, and Hand” reflection, students shared the following thoughts:
I felt very calm and supported
I felt good and happy
I felt artistic and calm
I learned that art doesn't always have to be perfect and neither do you!
I felt really grateful because I was having a kind of bad day and now I feel better!
✈️ Session 3: You Are Here: Connecting Flights
In the final session, students read two stories from You Are Here: Connecting Flights by Ellen Oh and a collective of Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Authors. Inside this book, students read "Mindy: Standing Up" by Meredish Ireland and "Natalie: Costumes" by Traci Chee, where two characters, Mindy and Natalie, are navigating their Asian identity in complex family and social dynamics.
Mindy struggled with her Korean identity; she is adopted by two white Dads, and while they love her and want her to appreciate her heritage, she doesn’t feel connected to it in the way that she feels she is supposed to.
Natalie is spending the fourth of July with her white friend’s family, and although she loves her friend, she feels that this friend doesn’t really understand the nuances of being Asian.
After reading the two stories, students shared what they noticed and are wondering about:
What does connection mean? It means that we see ourselves in something, we relate to someone else on a deeper level, or we bring things together. Connection doesn’t need to be perfect. And even if we don’t feel like we have anything in common with someone else, we might still be able to connect to them with time.
Both characters seem to feel uncomfortable with their culture and don’t feel like those around them understand who they are, even if they love those family members or friends.
Both characters chose not to say that they were uncomfortable and kept it as an inner thought- maybe this is because they don’t feel safe to share, or because the people who are making them uncomfortable are important to them and they are scared of losing them.
The main characters seemed to feel guilty or stuck in a situation where they needed to please people around them. They don’t want to let people down.
It felt like there were missing puzzle pieces.
And for the last session’s creative project, the students created a family portrait (without faces!)- using memories and love for their family to help create an image that represented their connection to their stories and traditions 🫶
🌟Shoutouts!
At the end of every meeting, the students had the option to share anonymous shoutouts, and there is no doubt that everyone shined this year in the Tea Talks Book Club!
Shout out to…
A passionate student who shared about makeup and liminal-space music!
A kind student who always had the warmest heart!
A thoughtful student for always sharing their connections!
A joyful student who always brightened up the room with laughter!
A bubbly student who sparked fun topics that we would never have thought of!
A curious student for asking the questions we needed!
A courageous student who shared her art with the group!
A artistic student whose creations left us in awe!
Students shared that they especially enjoyed connecting with one another in such a kind, supportive, and understanding environment. Creating artwork together made the experience even more meaningful and memorable!
From Annabel,
Thanks for joining this year’s Tea Talks. It was great to see some familiar faces come back from last summer, and to also meet some students who were new to the series! It was a privilege to learn from, laugh with, and be in community with the middle schoolers this month. Have a wonderful rest of your summer! 💖
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