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.
****Four starred reviews!**** * "A worthy successor to Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret set in present-day Oakland." — Kirkus Reviews, starred review 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 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.
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