A Sea of Lemon Trees: The Corrido of Roberto Alvarez By María Dolores Águila

Based on the true story of Roberto Alvarez and the Lemon Grove Incident, this middle grade debut novel in verse is about one young child’s courage to stand up for what is right, and the determination of the Mexican community.

Twelve-year-old Roberto Alvarez is the first one in his family born on United States soil. He’s el futuro, their dream for a life away from the fire of the Mexican revolution.

Moved by anti-immigrant and anti-Mexican propaganda, the Lemon Grove School Board and Chamber of Commerce create a separate “Americanization” school for the Mexican children attending the Lemon Grove Grammar School. But the new Olive Street School is an old barn retrofitted for the children forced to attend a segregated school.

Amidst threats of deportation, the Comité de Vecinos risk everything to stand their ground, and with the support of the Mexican Consulate, chose Roberto as the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit against the school board.

A novel in verse set against the backdrop of the Great Depression and Mexican Repatriation, based on the true story of the United States’ first successful school desegregation case, two decades before Brown v. Board of Education ruled that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional.