Weekly Mews: My Bookish Mewsings on The Moon Within by Aida Salazar & Other Updates

I am linking up to the Sunday Post hosted by Kim of Caffeinated Book Reviewer and The Sunday Salon (TSS) hosted by Deb Nance of Readerbuzz  where participants recap our week, talk about what we are reading, share any new books that have come our way, and whatever else we want to talk about. I am also linking It's Monday! What Are you Reading? hosted by Kathryn of Book Date where readers talk about what they have been, are and will be reading.

 

May is going by so fast! We had painters at the house today, giving our shutters a fresh coat of paint. That should make the homeowner's association happy.  My husband considered doing it himself, but my mom and I talked him out of it. He's got a bad shoulder and we worried about his safety. 

This week was relatively calm as far as it goes. Work continues to be busy. My husband and I had to get creative with our work schedules this week in order to make sure Mouse was picked up from school. My mom often helps out with pick up (thank you, Mom!), but my mom's aunt fractured her pelvic bone and my mom has been helping her and her partner out this week and possibly for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, the after school program Mouse sometimes goes to was full  for the week and unable to take her. My great-aunt seems to be doing well. Hopefully that continues to be the case. 

At the moment, I am reading Deanna Raybourn's Killers of a Certain Age, this month's TBR poll winner. It is good so far! These four retired assassins are a force to be reckoned with!  

Earlier this week, I finished reading Well Played (Well Met #2) by Jen DeLuca. You can check out my review here.

I am considering one of these next. I wonder which one it will be . . . . 

Marion Lane and the Raven's Revenge (#3) by T.A. Willberg

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto

Homicide and Halo-Halo (Tita Rosie's Kitchen Mystery #2) by Mia P. Manansala

Playing It Safe (Electra McDonell #3) by Ashley Weaver

What are you reading right now? What do you plan to read next? 

I wish I had read this book with my daughter two or three years ago, when I first added it to my TBR shelf. But I am glad I read it now. Aida Salazar's novel in verse, The Moon Within (Arthur A. Levine Books, 2019, 240 pgs), is a beautiful and inspiring book about not just a Mexican-Puerto Rican girl, Celi, entering a new phase in her life, but also that of her friend, Marco, who is also coming into his own.  This is a story about growing up: first periods, first love, friendship, family bonds and conflict, bullying, and transitioning. It is steeped in culture, traditions, and heart. This review includes some spoilers--so stop reading and skip to the next section if you plan to read this novel. 

Though I've never seen it

I know my locket is there. 

It keeps my questions

            my secrets

warm

unanswered

and safe. [excerpt from  pg 5 of The Moon Within]

Celi doesn't want the fanfare her mother has planned for her first menstrual cycle. She's embarrassed by her mother's wish to celebrate something Celi would rather keep private and hidden. But her mother does not want her daughter's experience to be the same as hers. She does not want her to feel shame or fear. As a mother and as someone who was once a young girl going through puberty, I understand both points of view.  

Celi, your moon will not be like mine.

You will not begin womanhood in doubt

in shame

but surrounded by the strength

of women in your community.

    No it isn't. It is a way you've made up!

It is a way that we have to reclaim 

so that we are not erased. [excerpt from page 182 of The Moon Within]

In the author's note, the author talks about how something once so celebrated and honored in some cultures has been made to feel dirty in modern-day western cultures. This is something I have observed too, although I like to think the tide is changing.  

As Celi navigates her changing body and puberty, her friend Marco is going through his own changes. Born a girl, Marco has long felt more like a boy. I loved how Salazar celebrates him in his and his family's acceptance of who he is. The author draws from precolonial indigenous, Mesoamerican ideas and beliefs, referencing the Aztec god Xochiquetzal, who was both male and female. Xochihuah, people with dual genders or who are gender fluid, are believed to have been considered sacred and well respected. 

While Celi loves Marco and their friendship, conflict arises when the boy she is crushing on is rude to Marco, deadnaming him and making fun of him. Celi struggles with her feelings--her attraction to Iván and her loyalty to her best friend. 

My locket lies open on

            a shore of a sea

                        of confusion

steady sand grounds my feet

like Marco--my best amifriend forever

            but the waves of Iván

                        crash into me

            a foam that wraps around my legs

                        sends a tingle through my body

                                    and swarms my heart

                        with a feeling of

            first love? [excerpt from pg 141 of The Moon Within]

Celi's relationship with dance, music and the moon (Luna), play a big part in this book. Celi is most herself when she is dancing, often to the sound of drums played by her father or Marco. It is a part of who she is. The title itself suggest the importance of the moon to the story, as it can be tied to the moon cycle as it relates to the female body. And here the author brings dance and the moon together: 

I watch her light up a sliver of dust

in my room.

Like a performance

small specks dance

twirl,

                bounce,

                                        float,

                glide,

                        somersault. 

They dance like I do. [excerpt from pg. 7 of The Moon Within]

I love the idea of a moon ceremony; and while it is not a tradition I carried out, it is one I admire and see the beauty in. The picture painted by Salazar as she wrote about Celi's moon ceremony was very moving and heartfelt. 

As my last offering to my moon altar

I lay my first doll, Alma, inside an open gourd

then I add a flint, for protection

and a spool of thread to mend

her bird-print dress

I say goodbye beneath my breath

while Mima sprinkles her

with

 crystal dust

that feels like love. [excerpt from pg 197 of The Moon Within]

I also really liked that she included Marco in the experience, incorporating his transition in such a way that honored both him and Celi.

The Moon Within carries such a positive message and the characters are very relatable. It was everything I hoped it would be and more.

Have you read The Moon Within? Have you read any poetry or a novel in verse recently? 

School is winding down for Mouse, and this week of school has been spent doing mostly non-academic activities (Mouse said she would rather work on her play than play board games). Just three more days of school to go and then it's on to middle school in August. Mouse isn't sure she's ready--and I am not sure I am either. Reading wise, Mouse is reading V.E. Schwab's Gallant. 

I recently watched the movie The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, based on the book with the same title by Gabrielle Zevin. I really liked the book and remember how much the characters came to mean to me as I read it. I wasn't quite as enamored with the movie, although I did enjoy it. Today I made my family watch A Man Called Otto, an Americanized movie version of Fredrick Backman's book, A Man Called Ove. I thought it was very well done. I really like Tom Hanks and Mariana Treviño was great as Marisol. Let's face it though. The cat stole the entire movie. (It goes without saying though that the book was still better.)

My daughter has been begging me to watch more anime with her and we most recently started the first season of Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-Kun! It is about a human boy who is sold by his parents to a demon, and the demon enrolls the human boy in demon school, trying to pass him off as his demon grandson. It's a cute show--a good mix of action and heart. We also started the second season of By the Grace of the Gods, an isekai slice of life anime. 

What have you watched recently?

I hope you have a great week! Let me know what you have been reading!

---

© 2023, Musings of a Bookish Kitty. All Rights Reserved. If you're reading this on a site other than Musings of a Bookish Kitty or Wendy's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.