Jazz Owls: A Novel of the Zoot Suit Riots

(Hardback)

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From the Young Peoples Poet Laureate Margarita Engle comes a searing novel in verse about the Zoot Suit Riots of 1943.

Thousands of young Navy sailors are pouring into Los Angeles on their way to the front lines of World War II. They are teenagers, scared, longing to feel alive before they have to face the horrors of battle. Hot jazz music spiced with cool salsa rhythms calls them to dance with the local Mexican American girls, who jitterbug all night before working all day in the canneries. Proud to do their part for the war effort, these Jazz Owl girls are happy to dance with the sailorsuntil the blazing summer night when racial violence leads to murder.

Suddenly the young white sailors are attacking these girls brothers and boyfriends. The cool, loose zoot suits they wear are supposedly the reason for the violencewhen in reality these boys are viciously beaten and arrested simply because of the color of their skin.

In soaring images and powerful poems, this is the breathtaking story of what became known as the Zoot Suit Riots as only Margarita Engle could tell it.

Reviews

A riveting, wonderfully researched novel. -- Matt de la Pea, Newbery Winner
*Readers will be cheering for the jazz owls to be able to not only dance, but to overcome racism. A quick read perfect for history buffs, dance enthusiasts, poets, and just about anyone looking for a great story. -- School Library Journal, Starred Review
A fast-paced narrative . . . Engle pieces together a volatile episode in history, filled with love, loss, and coming-of-age stories within a Mexican American family at a time of racial strife. -- Booklist
* A beautifully written work of historical fiction. Engle incorporates evocative poetry and multiple viewpoints to create a well-rounded narrative. She seamlessly weaves themes of culture, race relations, and working conditions together. -- VOYA, Starred Review
Offers a look at a seldom-represented moment in U.S. history. . . . The free verse brings us inside the characters heads, allowing us to feel Rays indignation at racial violence and to understand Lorenas politicization as she connects her experiences of injustice to organizing for better working conditions. -- The Horn Book
Voices of the siblings and their elders are convincingly realized . . . Gutierrezs black and white artwork graces chapter breaks with elegantly fluid interpretations of events. -- BCCB

Author Bio

Margarita Engle is the Cuban American author of many books including the verse novelsRimas Rebellion;Your Heart, My Sky;With a Star in My Hand;The Surrender Tree, a Newbery Honor winner; andThe Lightning Dreamer. Her verse memoirs includeSoaring EarthandEnchanted Air, which received the Pura Belpr Award, a Walter Dean Myers Award Honor, and was a finalist for the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction, among others. Her picture books includeDrum Dream Girl,Dancing Hands,andThe Flying Girl. Visit her at MargaritaEngle.com.

Rudy Gutierrez is an award-winning illustrator whose works have earned him a Pura Belpr Honor, Amricas Book Award, Africana Book Award, and a New York Book Award. He was born in the Bronx and now lives in New Jersey.