La luna dentro de mi (The Moon Within)

Ages 8 to 12, Grades 3 to 7

A dazzling story told with the sensitivity, humor, and brilliant verse of debut talent Aida Salazar.

La vida de Celi Rivera es un torbellino de preguntas... por los cambios en su cuerpo, por sentirse atraída por un chico por primera vez y por la exploración que hace su mejor amiga de lo que significa ser género fluido.

Pero, sobre todo, por la insistencia de su madre en hacerle una ceremonia lunar cuando le llegue su primer periodo. Se trata de un ancestral ritual mexica que Mima y su comunidad han rescatado, pero Celi se promete a sí misma que NO participará en él. ¿Encontrará dentro de sí la fortaleza necesaria para defender quién quiere ser?

Celi Rivera's life swirls with questions. About her changing body. Her first attraction to a boy. And her best friend's exploration of what it means to be gender-fluid.

But most of all, her mother's insistence she have a moon ceremony when her first period arrives. It's an ancestral Mexica ritual that Mima and her community have reclaimed, but Celi promises she will NOT be participating. Can she find the power within herself to take a stand for who she wants to be?

About the Author

Aida Salazar is a writer, arts advocate, and homeschooling mother who grew up in South East LA. She received an MFA in Writing from the California Institute of the Arts, and her writings have appeared in publications such as the Huffington Post, Women and Performance: Journal of Feminist Theory, and Huizache Magazine. Her short story "By the Light of the Moon" was adapted into a ballet by the Sonoma Conservatory of Dance and is the first Xicana-themed ballet in history. Aida lives with her family of artists in a teal house in Oakland, California.