In a total holy smokes moment, this article in @kirkus_reviews just dropped! 😱 Needless to say, it is a profound honor to walk into the light Judy Blume has cast. Blume made a huge impact on me as young reader but also as a young person blossoming into adolescence. A couple of decades later, my books were inspired by my kids’ puberty (which I found hilarious and wonderful and hard) and my need to offer them stories that reflected who they were, as Mexican / Puerto Rican mixed race kids, through a decolonial lens. It’s such a welcome surprise for my work to be placed in conversation with her iconic and radical work.
Here’s to awkward, funny, and revolutionary stories about puberty! Onward!
Link to article in my bio and here: /news-and-features/articles/is-this-childrens-author-our-new-judy-blume/
Ah! My upcoming book, STREAM, received a starred review from the American Library Association’s Booklist! This is the first time any trade review noted the poetic technique I use in my work and I am so grateful to Lisa Krok @readonthebeach2020 for her expert read! Check out Lisa’s book, Verse Novels for Teens, if you want to learn how to read verse novels and how to use them in the classroom.
If you are getting your summer reading together, consider pre-ordering a copy of STREAM through a new local bookstore in Oakland, @nomadicbookshop . We’ve got some swag to give and will sign and personalize if you want! Stay tuned for my in-person book launch at this same store on June 16th.
Here is the full Booklist review:
STREAM Advanced Review – Uncorrected Proof By Aida Salazar Releases June 2, 2026. 336p. Scholastic, $18.99 (9781338775679).
After a classmate’s catfishing incident comes to light, the parents of these eighth-grade graduates squash their summer plans. Instead of her scheduled trip to Hawaii with gender-fluid friend Mar, Papi and Mima send Celi to her Tia Luci to “touch ground” and connect with her Mexican side at their modest rancho, apprenticing as an herbalist and healer in the family tradition. Meanwhile, Elio and his gamer friend Paco are sent off-grid nearby—no internet, electricity, or running water, staying with Paco’s uncle while working on a river project with Brother’s Rising. This standalone conclusion to the verse novel trio of The Moon Within (2019), Celi’s story, and Ultraviolet (2024), Elio’s story, weaves together a dual narrative of relatable story lines, including coming-of-age emotions, screen addiction, feminism, environmentalism, and connecting with family and cultures. A blossoming romance befitting middle-grade audiences develops organically, including typical awkwardness and even a potential love triangle. Poetic devices including anaphora, imagery, contrapuntal, and free verse draw the reader into Celi and Elio’s worlds, painting beautiful scenes and narratives with rhythmic poems and humor—a perfect conclusion to Salazar’s collection. Hand this vivid verse novel to readers of David Bowels and Margarita Engle.
— Lisa Krok
“Escribir es mi espiritualidad, mi refugio, mi sueño, mi inspiración”. Para Aida Salazar, la creatividad no es un lujo; es una forma de sostenernos.
Desde joven, escribir le permitió explorar sus emociones, ordenar su mundo interno y encontrar equilibrio. E incluso antes de empezar, incorpora pequeños rituales, como meditar. Y no es solo intuición: “Me alegró enterarme que la escritura reduce el estrés y equilibra el sistema nervioso”, se sincera.
Pero, para ella, la creación también puede estar en cocinar, bailar o compartir en comunidad. Es volver a lo esencial.
¿Y cuando el tiempo no alcanza? Aida propone empezar por algo simple: “Realiza una pequeña acción creativa al día. Solo 15 minutos. Incorpórala en tu rutina, incluso si tienes que encerrarte en el baño, lejos de las exigencias de la vida”.
Porque en esos espacios entre tareas, en silencios breves, también nacen libros, ideas y nuevas versiones de una misma. “Honra tu espíritu creativo; con pleno permiso, sin disculpas ni culpa”, nos motiva.
#MujeresImparables #UnstoppableWomen #ElPoderEnTi #QueNadaTeDetenga #JuntosImparables @Telemundo@aida_writes
Hello! Tomorrow begins the first of three of MJ’s last events with @osaschool . Bittersweet! Would love to see our community come out and show MJ our love and support!
He will playing solo piano on the first (only one of three students) in Berkeley. Then if want to treat yourself to a jazz date night, that’s this Sunday May 17th at Mr. Tipples in SF and then again, he will be playing at the Jazz showcase on May 20th.
Details below:
Piano Senior Showcase
Thursday May 14 2026 • 6:30 - 7:45 PM
Berkeley Piano Club,
2724 Haste St, Berkeley, CA 94704, USA
OSA Jazz Senior Showcase
May 20, 2026 • 6:30 - 7:45 PM
Marion E Greene Black Box Theatre,
Oakland School for the Arts,
530 19th St, Oakland, CA 94612, USA
Mr Tipple’s Jazz Club, San Francisco
Featuring OSA Jazz Messengers
Sunday, May 17, 2026
1st Set @ 6:00pm - OSA Jazz Messengers
2nd Set @ 7:45 - OSA Alumni and Faculty
(including Miles Turk, Vito Marcacci, Teo Quale, Mark Clifford and Daniel Parenti)
MJ decided! He is headed to The New School in NYC for the next four years! It was an emotional process putting together this reel of musical highlights and moments of inspiration and performance. There were SO many we didn’t include from his musical life. From his first maraca to taking down the instrument basket from the shelf and playing before he could even crawl, to getting loved on by Eddie Palmieri, to playing drums, bells, and singing with his pops (his first and enduring teacher), to finding the piano and falling in love at about four, to accompanying his sister and composing Xmas carols to playing with and learning from some amazing master musicians, to playing ukelele to pop songs, to plena on the streets of Puerto Rico, to performing professionally with his pops’s band, other bands, and on his own, this baby grew up steeped in the music, and carries it in his soul. Thank you, community, for pouring your light into him!
We’ve set up a BetterWorld.org fundraiser for those interested in helping us get him to this prestigious music school and keeping him there for the next four years. With a price tag of 98k a year we’ve got quite a $ mountain left to climb and would so appreciate any support!
Link in bio and here: /campaigns/help-mj-get-new-school
Also, below are some end of year events with OSA he is gearing up for in case you’d like to attend.
Thank you for your love, generosity, for your good vibes, and solidarity!
Solo Piano Senior Showcase
He’s one of three students performing.
Thursday, May 14, 2026
• 6:30 a 7:45 PM
Berkeley Piano Club,
2724 Haste St, Berkeley, CA 94704
Mr. Tipple’s Jazz Club, San Francisco
Featuring OSA Jazz Messengers
Sunday, May 17, 2026
1st Set @ 6:00pm - OSA Jazz Messengers
2nd Set @ 7:45 - OSA Alumni and Faculty
(including Miles Turk, Vito Marcacci, Teo Quale, Mark Clifford and Daniel Parenti)
Ticket Link
/calendar/?eventDate=2026-05-17
OSA Jazz Senior Showcase
May 20, 2026 • 6:30 - 7:45 PM
Marion E Greene Black Box Theatre,
Oakland School for the Arts,
530 19th St, Oakland, CA 94612
I woke up missing my mother’s hugs. As a child, my siblings would complain they didn’t get as many hugs as I did but it was only because I would seek them out. Mami was busy with so many children and I would wiggle my way to her and get as many as she would give me. See, those hugs held magic. They took away pain, eased anxiety, gave unconditional love and compassion, and were always a comforting cradle. I was not the only one to receive them, though these pictures would say otherwise. She loved to give them to any who was in need, often with arms wearing a rebozo. As she got sicker, I was scared to hug as tightly as I used to and she would say, abrazos didn’t hurt her. She was right. When she passed, I hugged her, her body still warm, as tightly as I could one last time. Now, flowers hug her on my altar as my garden’s flowers once did in the days of her living. Sometimes I feel her energy hugging me when I am sleeping. 💞
“Mi trabajo está al servicio de nuestros niños. Espero guiarlos a que piensen críticamente, imaginen y se maravillen ante el mundo que les rodea”, comparte Aida Salazar, escritora galardonada, quien celebra el lanzamiento de su nuevo libro, Stream, en junio.
“Quiero que recuerden nuestra esencia como seres humanos que pertenecemos a la tierra, que prosperamos cuando estamos en comunión con los demás”, dice sobre su nueva historia que propone reconectar con la cultura, la familia y la naturaleza como un bálsamo frente al exceso de tecnología.
Y en ese camino, también vuelve a sus raíces. Nacida en Zacatecas, México, y criada en Los Ángeles, esos territorios atraviesan todo lo que escribe: “Es inevitable… Quiero que mis lectores sepan que pertenecen a ambos lugares en igual medida”, explica.
“Cuando voy a las escuelas y ven una autora latina, muchos por primera vez, veo el brillo de la posibilidad en sus ojos. Es lo más inspirador”, concluye.
#MujeresImparables #UnstoppableWomen #ElPoderEnTi #QueNadaTeDetenga #JuntosImparables @Telemundo@aida_writes
This Thursday, I’m excited be at SF City College sharing my work and author journey with students. Some will receive free copies of Land of the Cranes! During a time when our communities are dealing with so many wounds, I hope this time will be received for the warm embrace that it is. Adelante!
It’s been a beautiful journey with my sweet ULTRAVIOLET. Today, it’s out in paperback!
There are so many people to be grateful for throughout this ride. From my son, MJ, who inspired the book to my editor Tracy Mack to my agent @agentzacker to our Scholastic school and library team @lizettemserrano to an entire ecosystem of educators, librarians, admin, booksellers, supporters, and readers, this labor of love could not have been possible. They took this unlikely book about a boy falling in love and seeing everything in ultraviolet colors to places all across the country. They gave it four major awards, starred reviews, features in the NYT, NPR, have tagged up and loved on the book in ways that I never dreamed. Gracias, gracias for all the Ultraviolet love!
The paperback edition is really affordable and part of the @scholastic GOLD line of books which include new material in the back of the book.
Get a copy for yourself or for a young person from any indi bookstore like @nomadicbookshop where you can also pre-order a signed copy of the sequel, STREAM (out in one month from today). Plus, pick up some cool swag! Link in my bio. Abrazos! 💞
Last weekend I had the tremendous honor of attending @sonomaconservatoryofdance ’s ballet production of Por la luz de la luna (By the Light of the Moon) based on a story I wrote and that they adapted. I am grateful beyond words to @isjahsam and Miguel who found me through a recommendation by @loya.joe (thanks Joe!) and trusted me enough to pen the story set to music by Mexican classical composers. Grateful as well to Patty o’Reilly for the extraordinary work of spearheading the dance company /nonprofit and making room for this Chicana ballet to be staged.
It was a beautiful show with gorgeous choreography by Isabel and Patty. Gorgeous art by @pemexs The story is about a little girl who sees the moon for the first time and her mother tells her three stories of how her ancestors followed the moon for generations. Among those stories is that of Jovita Valdovinos who fought for religious freedom, about how her grandparents crossed the border by the light of the moon, how the Mexica goddess of the moon, Coyolxauhqui, brought light to the night sky. I was in tears to witness how they brought these stories to life though dance, music, art, lighting & more! Writing this story was the first time I realized Jovita’s story could be a picture book. Of course, my love of the moon is never ending.
@j_santos_music and my bestie @perezrealestateservices attended with me and were equally moved. I don’t have pictures or video of the actual performance because it wasn’t allowed but I was able to film some of the Mexican dancers speaking about how important the production is to them given this decidedly hateful time against our communities. I was so proud to be a small part of their seeing themselves reflected through art. They asked me to come up during the bow but all I could do was praise them for their hard and beautiful work!
What a blessing it is to write our stories, not representative, by any means, of all of our experiences because we contain multitudes, but because with each moment of representation, we bring meaning to our lives in this world. May art continue to bring us together and lift our spirits with this much love, this much beauty, and this much light. ♥️
It’s been an eventful last couple of weeks mothering this blazingly talented young man. MJ’s last performances with OSA Jazz Messengers and the Big Band happened at Yoshi’s and at Sweets Ballroom in Oakland. In the first clip at Sweets, the Messengers played MJ’s own composition entitled, Air Filter, which he says he composed during the time John was sick and we had air filters running in the house to help tame his extreme nausea. I’m so impressed Joao channeled that dark time into creativity. Here he is with his best bud Luca and his pops John (if you look closely there is a black and white photo of John in the background that hangs at Yoshi’s) and then with his teachers Dan Parenti and Emily Tian after the Yoshi’s show. The second video clip is of his cousin Gian Luca and he each soloing on a Chick Corea tune. Then there was prom! He did a gig with his dad and had to get ready for prom where they played at the Annex for Tom Ehrlich’s exhibition. I was able to get a few shots with him beneath this maroon leafed tree before he left. And finally there was the orientation for students attending The New School in the fall. Phew! Spending this much time with this light of mine I know is limited and I am savoring every last minute before he moves to NYC. Oof! My heart!
He has a senior solo piano recital and senior ensemble recital coming up soon. I will post details and times in case you’d like to see a bit of his magic in person. ♥️
Creating Por la Luz de la Luna 🌑 (By the Light of the Moon) part 3:
Meet the Award Winning Author Behind the Story: Aida Salazar @aida_writes
Aida Salazar played a key role in the creation of Por la Luz de la Luna as the writer of its original story and narrative foundation.
Collaborating closely with Isabelle, Roberto Miguel, and Patty, Aida helped respond to a shared need for accessible Mexican-American and Chicano stories for younger audiences. Aida shaped the narrative after deep listening and drawing from Isabelle’s research in Mexican composers, exchanging ideas with the creative team, and also weaving in elements of her own family history in Mexico such as her great-aunt Jovita Valdovinos who fought in Mexico’s Cristero War in the 1930’s. She was a bonafide revolutionary (whom historians and journalists alike have dubbed the Mexican "Joan of Arc") that dressed like a man and took up arms to fight for religious freedom. Jovita changed her name to "Juan" and cut off her long hair. Eighty men followed her without hesitation into battle for justice for the revolutionaries. Por la Luz de la Luna weaves together Aztec deities, authentic Mexican traditions, and a powerful story of love, loss, and resilience. Isabelle and Roberto Miguel then created the ballet libretto based on Aida’s story.
Aida Salazar is an award-winning author, translator, and arts activist whose writings explore issues of identity and social justice. Her critically acclaimed verse novels and picture books have received over twenty five awards including an ALA Caldecott Honor, ALA Pura Belpre Honor, Malka Penn Human Rights in Children's Literature Award, The Américas Award, The Tomás Rivera Book Award, NSK Nuesdtat Finalist, International Latino Book Awards among other distinctions. She lives with her family of artists in Oakland, CA.
Photos credits: Lluvia Higuera & aidasalazar.com
#SonomaConservatoryOfDance #SCD #ConservatoriodeDanzaSonoma #PorlaLuzdelaLuna #PorlaLuzdelaLuna2026 #SpringBallet #MexicanBallet #BalletMexicano #Ballet #Danza #Baile #Dance #Folclorico #BalletFolklorico #SebastianiTheatre #SonomaValleyArts #SonomaPlaza #SonomaArts #SonomaValley
