Accessing model data members in action? Need cast?

This must be a simple concept, but it seems to be assumed rather than covered... I have a simple model, journal, and component, journal-list:

<select class="form-control" id="journal" onchange= >
<option value="" disabled="disabled" selected="selected">Periodicals:</option>
  
    <option value=""> </option> 
  
</select>

and action:

import Ember from 'ember';
export default Ember.Component.extend({
    editstate: Ember.inject.service('edit-state'),
    actions: {
        showJournal(journal) {
            this.get('editstate').selectedJournal = journal;
            alert('got ' + journal.name);
            this.sendAction('displayJournal', journal);
        }
    }
});

That selected value is not, as far as I can tell, useful, and the journal instance in the action isn't either. Ember knows it's type Journal (e.g. <em-journalapp@model:journal::ember385:3>), but I can't access the members via, e.g., journal.name, journal.get('name') or anything else I've thought of.

I can pass in journal.id instead, and see it. But if I look up the model from the store, the variable again isn't useful.

Is there some magic to casting or storing model data in variables and getting it back out?