Aida Salazar

Aida Salazar​ is a Latinx award-winning author, arts activist, and translator whose writings for adults and children explore issues of identity and social justice.

She is the author of the critically acclaimed middle grade verse novels, "THE MOON WITHIN" (International Latino Book Award Winner) and "LAND OF THE CRANES" (Américas Award, California Library Association Beatty Award, Northern CA Book Award, NCTE Charlotte Huck Honor, Jane Addams Peace Honor, International Latino Book Award Honor).

Aida's most recent verse novel, ULTRAVIOLET (2024) is about a 13-year-old boy who falls in love for the first time and sees everything in ultraviolet colors, is a loose companion to her first novel, THE MOON WITHIN.

Her novel, A SEED IN THE SUN (2022) is a historical fiction verse novel. It is about a farmworking girl who longs to be a teatrista and is inspired by Dolores Huerta during the pivotal moments of the 1965 UFW grape boycott.

Her earlier books include the picture book anthology, "IN THE SPIRIT OF A DREAM: 13 Stories of Immigrants of Color" (2021), the novel, "A SEED IN THE SUN" (2022), the bio picture book "JOVITA WORE PANTS: The Story of a Freedom Fighter" (2023), and the anthology "CALLING THE MOON: Period Stories by BIPOC Authors" (2023).

Salazar is a founding member of LAS MUSAS - a Latinx kidlit debut author collective. Her 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, CA.