Bala Mendoza was one of our earliest Latina to Latina guests, and that conversation about her work as an artist and an organizer became a listener favorite.

Bala's latest expression of her creativity and advocacy is her work as an artist and an organizer became a listener favorite. Bala's latest expression of her

creativity and advocacy is her work as a young adult author. First with her book sanctuary and now

with her newest book, Solis, in which she and her co-author, Abby Shear, envision in America

less than a decade from now where undocumented people are forced into labor camps in

service of an autocratic regime. The story is told by four narrators turned revolutionaries who

must fight for their freedom. Bawala and I talk about the process of partnering with a co-author,

I found that really interesting, how her relationship with her own mother is reflected in her

characters, and the freedom that she has fought for in her own mother is reflected in her characters and the freedom that

she has fought for in her own life.

Friend, welcome back.

So happy to be here.

It's been a long time.

The world is very different.

Bola, we know you as an artist and as an activist.

Why the expansion to YA?

You know, I wrote my first book, Sanct in 2018 with my co-writer Abby Schur,

and it came to me during a very dark time in our history, and that was right after family

separation, and I was very involved in family separation, fighting back against it.

I was helping a handful of families be reunited with their children.

And in that darkness, I imagined what would happen if we weren't able to stop family

separation.

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