Sia Martinez and the Moonlit Beginning of Everything

It’s been three years since ICE raids and an ill-fated walk across the Sonoran, and since Sia Martinez’s mom disappeared. Sia knows that her mom must be dead, but every new moon Sia drives into the desert and lights San Anthony and la Guadalupe candles to guide her mom home. Then one night Sia’s life and the world as we know it cracks wide open. In Sia Martinez and the Moonlit Beginning of Everything, readers gets an in-depth look into the very real consequences of immigration policies that separate families, with a dizzyingly smart allegory for the great lengths parents will go to be reunited with their children.

Kristin Cashore, New York Times bestselling author of the Graceling Realm series, raves: "Sia’s story is a startlingly beautiful blend of so many things: mythology, spirituality, and the stark realities of racism and deportation in the U.S.; coming of age and first love; and all the best pop-culture sci-fi. And aliens! And a kick-ass girl full of heart! You’ll believe in these characters, and in the wonders around them.”

Raquel Vasquez Gilliland is a Mexican American poet, novelist, and painter. She received an MFA in poetry from the University of Alaska, Anchorage. She’s most inspired by fog and seeds and the lineages of all things. When not writing, Raquel tells stories to her plants and they tell her stories back. She lives in Tennessee with her beloved family and mountains. Raquel has published two books of poetry. Sia Martinez and the Moonlit Beginning of Everything is her first novel. Visit her online at raquelvasquezgilliland.com, on Twitter @poet_raquelvgil, and on Instagram @raquelvasquezgilliland_poet.

Aida Salazar is an award-winning author and arts activist whose writings for adults and children explore issues of identity and social justice. She is the author of the middle grade verse novels, THE MOON WITHIN (International Latino Book Award Winner), THE LAND OF THE CRANES (Fall, 2020), and the bio picture book JOVITA WORE PANTS: THE STORY OF A REVOLUTIONARY FIGHTER (Spring, 2021). All published by Scholastic. She is slated to co-edit with Yamile Saied Méndez, CALLING THE MOON: A middle grade anthology on menstruation by writers of color (Candlewick Press 2022). She 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.

A Virtual Evening with Raquel Vasquez Gilliland and Aida Salazar