Today we’re spotlighting Stream by Aida Salazar!
Read on for more about the author, the book, plus enter the giveaway!
About the Author: Aida Salazar
Aida Salazar is an award-winning author and arts activist whose writings for adults and children explore issues of identity and social justice. She has written several multi-award-winning middle-grade verse novels, including The Moon Within, Land of the Cranes, and Ultraviolet, an ALA Notable and Pura Belpré Honor Book. Her acclaimed picture books include the Caldecott Honor Book Jovita Wore Pants: The Story of a Mexican Freedom Fighter, illustrated by Molly Mendoza, and In the Spirit of a Dream: 13 Stories of American Immigrants of Color. Salazar lives with her family of artists in Oakland, California.
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About the Book: Stream
Elio
I can pretty much kick
school to the curb
for the summer.
Eighth grade, done!
Graduation, done!
It’s gaming time!
Heck yeah!
Who knew a whole year
of falling
in and
out
of love
would roller coaster
swoosh me
to a screeching halt
and bring me right here?
It’s been a year.
On god, it has.
But I ain’t gonna talk about it now
’cause I’m on my way
to a grad party
with my bro Paco
and the fellas.
And your boy, Elio,
is on a mission to celebrate
and get his golden groove on!
Nah, if I’m being honest,
I’m a dud at dancing.
I only imagine it
in my noodle brain
when I play piano
and my body wants
to move and flow
but I get all tangled up,
my lanky arms awkward,
my booty not shaking like it should,
so I don’t even dare.
But I can bop my head to the music
and watch the colors the notes make
in the air
as the drum and bass
pop off purple blues
and orange reds
with a tic- boom, boom,
boom.
Celi
It’s a full moon night
but the lights inside
are dull and dim
as the shapes of kids
standing around this living room
graduation party
come into focus
when my amifriend, Mar,
and I walk in.
A chorus of phone lights
shine on faces
I thought would be dancing.
No matter, the music is calling
and my body stirs to dance,
to show Mar
my new hip- hop moves,
for every one to see
my fresh face of makeup
I learned from a tutorial
on the Gram.
There are cuties here.
Guys I’ve never seen,
like that tall one
with a bushy top head
and that other one
with a soft circle face
dancing with a güerita.
Mar says they’re kids from RISE UP,
the other Oakland middle school across the lake,
graduating today, same as us.
I want to catch their attention.
So I grab my phone too
and start recording content
for my channel
because the DJ’s music is fire
burning a flame inside me
and making my body swirl
bringing smooth movement
out to the surface
of my butterfly arms
and floating feet,
my phone catching every thing
as I spin around the room
joining the rhythm
of the drum and bass
tic- boom, boom,
boom.
Got Next
Bro, bro, bro, I got next!
I slim slam shout at Paco.
He’s dropped the control
because his girl, Laurette, walked in
and she’s with my ex, Camelia.
Though I came to juke to the music
and the DJ’s laying it down nice,
the Phunstation console is on in a side room
on a big screen streaming live on Glitch
and the rest of the fellas are hella lined up
and this is my chance
for a knowledge drop—
Gamelord style.
A mess of kids dance
in a knot in the living room.
Paco and Laurette got their faces
smooshed together while they dance.
Camelia is flirting with some girl
but she’s my bud now so it’s chill.
Some got their phones up,
prob ably taking .5 shots
left and right
through the reds and blues
of DJ lights.
I wanna dance too
especially if it could be with a girl,
but I didn’t spend the last year
becoming a king at gaming
to not show the fellas
what I got.
I’mma get out there
after I put a smackdown
on this ONE GAME.
All of a sudden,
every one stops dancing;
they crowd to the walls
like flies at rest.
Even the game gets paused.
Every one
drowning
into their phones.
The chisme must be good
so I go for my phone
and see a gigantic group chat
popping off
like quick lightning
in the dark.
Copyright © 2026 by Aida Salazar
All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920. SCHOLASTIC, SCHOLASTIC PRESS, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.
*GIVEAWAY DETAILS*
Use the Rafflepress Form below to enter
*be sure to include complete mailing address for the second entry question to qualify to win*
One (1) winner will receive a copy of Stream(Aida Salazar) ~ US ONLY!
