1. Title: The Moon Within by Aida Salazar,978-1-338-28337-2, Scholastic Inc., 2019, $17.99, 222 pg.
2. Genre: Children’s Fiction.
3. Characters: The main character is Celi, who is an 11-year-old girl who loves to dance the bomba. She is struggling with her growing body while her mother tries to get her to celebrate the changes. Celi is embarrassed and ashamed of this in the beginning, and then towards the end of the story celebrates it. Celi also learns how to stand up for her best friend, and for what she believes in.
4. Celi’s mother constantly tells her about how she will start menstruating soon, and that they will have a moon ceremony with all of the friends in their women’s circle to celebrate it. Celi is mortified and rejects her mother for this, even getting angry enough to cut up a family photo. In her bomba class, she has a best friend named Magda. Magda plays the drums while Celi dances, the two make an excellent team. Her  friend Magda also dresses quite masculine, which never phases Celi. Ivan, a boy in one of the other classes, gets noticed by Celi and she quickly develops a crush. However, after Celi sets up a date for Ivan and his friends, and Magda and Celi, to all hang out, the boys tease Magda for the way she dresses. After cooling off, Celi realizes she still has feelings for Ivan when he invites her to the movies. She decides not to tell Magda. Soon after, Celi is invited over to Magda’s by her family. Feeling guilty, Celi comes over thinking that Magda has found her out. But Magda’s family is actually putting on a ceremony to reveal to family friends that Magda feels that she is more of a boy, and would like to now be Marco. They ask Celi for her support of Marco and she agrees. A few days later, Marco discovers Celi talking and laughing with Ivan, which makes him feel betrayed as Ivan had made fun of him before. Marco gets mad at Celi after she makes an insensitive comment and they stop speaking. Finally, the day for Celi’s dance recital has come. They have to wear white pants for the performance, and before they go on stage, Marco grabs Celi and informs her that shes bled in her pants. He helps her get cleaned up in the bathroom and tell the dance teacher about what happened. Celi apologizes for what she had done and thanks him for helping, and they become friends again. The moon ceremony is now being planned by her mother since she's begun to menstruate, and Celi couldn’t be more embarrassed. She throws a fit in the bath that night after the recital and sobs. However, once they start planning the ceremony, she warms to the idea. In the meantime, Celi sees Ivan and tells him how rude he was to Marco, and explains his situation. The moon ceremony comes and Celi and Marco are both honored in the middle—Celi for beginning womanhood, and Marco for embracing his identity. Ivan shows up during and speaks with Celi, apologized for what he’s done as he feels bad he can’t be close to her for what he did. Celi tells him he shouldn’t be sorry just to be with her, and leaves him at the door. The moon ceremony ends up encouraging Celi and erasing the shame of her changing body. By the end of it, she feels proud.
5. Touchy areas: There is a lot of talk about puberty, changing bodies, menstruation, and gender fluidity. Some parents could get upset over this, but it is talked about eloquently and the material is important for students.
6. Related Titles: Planet Middle School by Nikki Grimes, Expecting the Unexpected by Mavis Jukes,

Superhuman by Matt Whyman.

1. Movies: Eighth Grade (2018), Girl Meets World (TV Show 2014-2017).

Art: “Black Cat in Silvery Moonlight” by Laura Iverson, “The Voyage” by Eric Fan. Music: “10,000 Emerald Pools” by BORNZ, “The Night We Met” by Lord Huron. Poem: “Adolescence (II)” by Rita Dove.

1. Evaluation: This is a great coming of age story. The material about puberty and genderfluidity is important and educational for kids while also being highly relatable. It never becomes inappropriate and the topic is approached eloquently. I think this is perfect for 4th grade-10th grade (because puberty doesn’t always happen at the same time). I give this a 10/10.

9. Reviewed by Camry Kreymer
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​Title: The Moon Within by Aida Salazar, 978-1338283372, Arthur A. Levine Books, New York, 2019, $17.99, 231 pp.

1. Genre: Fiction/Written in Verse
2. Characters: The main characters of this book include Celestina Rivera (Celi), Mima, Magda (Marco), and Ivan. Celi is a 11-year-old dancer who displays anxious tendencies. The main cause of her anxieties surrounds her changing body/coming-of-age, Mima’s wishes for her to uphold ancestral rituals, and her crush on Iván. Mima, Celi’s mother, is as loving as mothers come and wants Celi to be proud of becoming a woman, even if it makes Celi uncomfortable. Magda, known as Marco about halfway through the book, is Celi’s best friend. The two are an incredible duo; Magda/Marco drums and Celi dances. Magda/Marco is quite the tomboy until she decides she would like to be called Marco and be referred to as he, experimenting with genderfluidity. Lastly, there is Iván, who Celi has a crush on. Iván is a seemingly nice guy, but proves to be ignorant as the book progresses.
3. Plot: To begin the book in Easter Oakland, California, Celi explores the question of her changing body and expresses embarrassment with coming into womanhood that Mima quickly shuts down. As it is expected that Celi will begin her period soon, the talk of a “moon ceremony” comes up very often. The moon ceremony is a ritual done when a girl becomes a woman that Mima is adamant about Celi having, mainly because Mima does not want Celi to be embarrassed of her womanhood as Mima was when she was young. Along Celi’s side through her journey to becoming a woman is Magda, Celi’s best friend. It is noted that Magda is quite the tomboy, dressing much different than Celi does and does not have stereotypical female interests. The two work together to get the attention of Iván, the boy Celi likes and the boy Magda wants to be like, by inviting him to see their performance. While initiating these plans, Celi fails to mention Magda. When it comes time for Celi, Magda, and Iván to get together, Iván makes fun of Magda for her boyish looks. This upset both the friends and Iván disappears, but not for long. After this encounter, Iván gets in touch with Celi, inviting her to his birthday party at the movies. Although Celi does not want to betray Magda, she goes anyway without telling her. Soon after, Magda invites Celi and her family to a ceremony at her house—it is essentially a ceremony announcing that Magda possesses both male and female energy, but will now go by Marco and be referred to as he. Celi is to help Marco make sure that this is obeyed at school and with others throughout the community. Someone who does not seem to grasp the concept is Iván when Marco sees him and Celi talking, but this time Celi takes Iván’s side. The two best friends are out of communication for several weeks after the argument, but come together again when Celi starts her period at a dress rehearsal for a performance the two are in. The friendship rekindles and the moon ceremony planning begins. When the full moon comes and it is time for Celi’s ceremony, all the women in Celi’s family come and Mima makes Marco apart of it too because he possesses both energies. Randomly, Iván shows up to apologize, but Celi’s new found womanhood makes her realize that friendship is more important than a crush.
4. Touchy Areas: There are not really any touchy areas other than the fact that the book focuses on menstruation and is clearly targeted towards females, so boys might be uncomfortable reading it.
5. Related Titles: With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo, I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sanchez, The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo, Under the Mambo Moon by Julia Durango
6. Artistic Forms
   1. Movies: Mulan(1998), Legally Blonde (2001), Pocahontas (1995)
   2. Music: “Put Your Records On” by Corrine Bailey Rae (2006), “Liability” by Lorde
   3. Poem: “The Period Poem” by Dominique Christina, “B” by Sarah Kay, “A Flower Song for Maidens Coming of Age” by David Bowles
   4. Classic Work: The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
   5. Art: Full Moon Ceremony by Jackie Traverse
7. Evaluation: As a woman, I greatly enjoyed this book. It was the first book written in verse that I have read, and I think it worked really well, especially for a young adult book. The way that it is separate poems while also being a cohesive story is an innovative, fun way to get younger kids to read—it goes a lot faster. I think this would be an excellent book to teach in a middle school class where everyone is coming-of-age, especially to educate females and males alike on the maturing of the female form. Although it might be difficult to get boys to read maturely, I think it could be possible. With the main focus covering issues of femininity in today’s society, it also explores gender identity, racial identity, and socioeconomics in the slightest, which are all issues that should be explored more freely in schools. Overall, I give this book a 9/10 for its form and subject area.

 
Reviewed by: Katelyn Callahan