Aida Salazar is an award-winning author, arts activist, and translator whose writings explore issues of identity and social justice. Her critically acclaimed verse novels and picture books have received numerous awards including: a Caldecott Honor, the Américas Award, Tomás Rivera Children's Book Award, International Latino Book Awards, California Library Association Beatty Award, Northern CA Book Award, Jane Addams Peace Honor, an NCTE Charlotte Huck Honor among other distinctions. She lives with her family of artists in Oakland, CA.