Barrio Rising:the Protest That Built Chicano Park

Description

A vivid historical fiction account of the community activism behind San Diego's Chicano Park—home to the largest outdoor mural collection in the U.S.—and just one example of the Mexican American community’s rich history of resistance and resilience.

Barrio Logan, one of San Diego’s oldest Chicane neighborhoods, once brimmed with families and stretched all the way to the glorious San Diego Bay. But in the decades after WWII, the community lost their beach and bayfront to factories, junkyards, and an interstate that divided the neighborhood and forced around 5,000 people out of their homes. Then on April 22, 1970, residents discovered that the construction crew they believed was building a park—one the city had promised them years ago—was actually breaking ground for a police station. That’s when they knew it was time to make their voices heard. Barrio Rising invites readers to join a courageous young activist and her neighbors in their successful twelve-day land occupation and beyond, when Barrio Logan banned together and built the colorful park that would become the corazón of San Diego's Chicane community.

*Two starred reviews!*
*"A marvelous testament to barrio-based might."—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

About the Author

Stephen Briseño is an ESL teacher living in San Antonio, Texas. The Notebook Keeper is his first children's book. Visit him on the web at stephenbriseno.weebly.com.

Polo Orozco is a children’s book editor and translator from Jalisco, Mexico. He now lives in Brooklyn, where he makes linoleum prints and forgets to water his houseplants. He seldom tweets at @polooroz.

Magdalena Mora is the illustrator of I Wish You Knew by Jackie Azúa Kramer and Equality's Call by Deborah Diesen. She lives in the Twin Cities. Visit her on the web at magdalenamora.com.