A Sea of Lemon Trees: The Corrido of Roberto Alvarez

In this empowering verse novel, Águila (Menudo Sunday) fictionalizes the history of the 1930–1931 court case Roberto Alvarez vs. the Board of Trustees of the Lemon Grove School District—known as the Lemon Grove Incident—as seen through the eyes of Mexican American middle schooler Roberto Alvarez. Bookish Roberto loves studying at Lemon Grove Grammar School, named for the Southern California town tucked between “a sea of lemon trees” and “blinding glimpses of the Pacific Ocean.” But when school administrators segregate Mexican American students, including Roberto, into a separate facility—una caballeriza “where/ farm animals live”—the tween’s tight-knit neighborhood files a lawsuit against the school board that casts Roberto as lead plaintiff. Brief, stirring free-verse poems elucidate 12-year-old Roberto’s frustration in feeling caught between Mexican and American cultures as well as between his childhood and approaching adulthood. As he grapples with the lawsuit’s gravity, his personal anxieties about his role in it, and his shifting friendships, some of which end abruptly, Roberto learns to embrace his own multitudes. This impeccably researched account, told via lucid, moving free verse, imparts timely, heartening messages about community activism (“When many people/ are brave together/ we can do things/ that seem impossible”) that will resonate. A historical note and bibliography conclude. Ages 8–12. Agent: Lindsay Auld, Writers House. (Sept.)