A modern tale of early adolescence finds Celi navigating questions about her changing body, first attraction and a best friend's genderfluid explorations while resisting her mother's embarrassing plans for an ancestral Mexica moon ceremony to celebrate her first period. - (Baker & Taylor)
"Eleven-year-old (nearly twelve) Celi Rivera, who is a mix of Black-Puerto Rican-Indigenous Mexican is secretive about her approaching period, and the changes that are happening to her body; she is horrified that her mother wants to hold a traditional public moon ceremony to celebrate the occasion; she must choose loyalty to her life-long best friend who is contemplating an even more profound change of life or the boy she likes"-- - (Baker & Taylor)
The dazzling story of a girl navigating friendship, family, and growing up, an Are You There God, It's Me Margaret? for the modern day, from debut author Aida Salazar.****Four starred reviews!***** "A worthy successor to Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret set in present-day Oakland." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred reviewCeli 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 genderfluid.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?
A dazzling story told with the sensitivity, humor, and brilliant verse of debut talent Aida Salazar. - (
Scholastic)
The dazzling story of a girl navigating friendship, family, and growing up, an Are You There God, It's Me Margaret? for the modern day, from debut author Aida Salazar.
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Scholastic)
Aida Salazar is an award-winning author and arts activist whose writings for adults and children explore issues of identity and social justice. She is the author of the middle-grade verse novels The Moon Within (International Latino Book Award Winner), Land of the Cranes (Américas Award Winner), the picture book anthology, In the Spirit of a Dream, and the picture book biography Jovita Wore Pants: The Story of a Mexican Freedom Fighter. She is a founding member of Las Musas, a Latinx kidlit debut author collective. Her short story "By the Light of the Moon" was adapted into a ballet production by the Sonoma Conservatory of Dance and is the first Xicana-themed ballet in history. She lives with her family of artists in a teal house in Oakland, California.
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Scholastic)
Booklist Reviews
Celi's body is signaling changes, and all signs point to puberty. Her proud mother intends to hold a moon ceremony with family and close friends, an event for women to honor her first menstruation and give her advice, as well as empower her as she moves into this new phase in her life. This story is told in beautiful poems, using imagery and free verse to convey the tale, and it's narrated from the perspective of Celi, who starts off quite against the ceremony. In the time leading up to her first period, she also makes a few poor decisions towards her best friend, who announces their gender fluidity and needs her support more than ever. This is a lovely, relatable story about anyone who is torn between their impulses—fueled by frustration or anger—and the desire to do what's right by family and friends, especially when it's difficult. The words really use up the space on the pages in creative ways, and the author reveals cultural aspects of Latinx (especially Xicana) and Caribbean peoples in rich detail. Grades 3-6. Copyright 2019 Booklist Reviews.
