La protesta que construyó el Parque Chicano
March 1, 2024
"Parque si, policia no!" This fictionalized account -- narrated by a young person -- shares the dramatic culmination of efforts by Chicane residents of Barrio Logan to build Chicano Park in San Diego in 1970. When the city began building a police station in the space where the community had long called for a park, residents launched a protest to physically block the construction. Aguila weaves together images of daily life in Barrio Logan with community members' experiences of the city's lengthy neglect and environmental racism against their community, to tell the story of the fight to build the park, which was ultimately successful. Spanish vocabulary and slogans used by Chicane and other Latine activists are interspersed throughout the text and illustrations. Mora employs a blend of vivid colors, sepia tones, and pastel hues to highlight the intensity of the struggle and the everyday beauty for which the protesters were fighting, ending with depictions of the inspiring murals that residents eventually painted in the park. Although the story seems condensed, an author's note explains the rapid succession of this phase of the protest and provides more details about the ongoing discrimination suffered by the community. Concurrently published in Spanish as El barrio se levanta. Monica de los Reyes
(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)
June 1, 2024
K-Gr 3-A little girl and her neighborhood stand up for their culture in this historical fiction book. Told with beautiful imagery and similes, this is the story of a group of neighbors demonstrating for 12 days in 1970 to demand that the city of San Diego use an empty space as a park and not turn it into a police station. The local government has been disrupting this Mexican American neighborhood since World War II, and residents have had to put up with more and more infrastructure and less access to the ocean and green spaces. Voicing their concerns over time, and with the help of committed government workers, Parque Chicano came to life. The author has a special note at the end of the book detailing her own experience living in the Barrio Logan, which adds to the lasting impact of this project. Told with lyricism, this picture book presents kids with a real-life community experience of advocacy. Readers will come to understand how the trials and tribulations of a group of vecinos uniting created something beautiful. VERDICT Recommended for all collections, especially those serving Chicano communities.-Carol Youssif
Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.