About this item
Seven years before Brown v. Board of Education, the Mendez family fought to end segregation in California schools. Discover their incredible story in this picture book from award-winning creator Duncan TonatiuhA Pura Belpré Illustrator Honor Book and Robert F. Sibert Honor Book! When her family moved to the town of Westminster, California, young Sylvia Mendez was excited about enrolling in her neighborhood school. But she and her brothers were turned away and told they had to attend the Mexican school instead. Sylvia could not understand why - she was an American citizen who spoke perfect English. Why were the children of Mexican families forced to attend a separate school? Unable to get a satisfactory answer from the school board, the Mendez family decided to take matters into its own hands and organize a lawsuit. In the end, the Mendez familys efforts helped bring an end to segregated schooling in California in 1947, seven years before the landmark Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education ended segregation in schools across America. Using his signature illustration style and incorporating his interviews with Sylvia Mendez, as well as information from court files and news accounts, award-winning author and illustrator Duncan Tonatiuh tells the inspiring story of the Mendez familys fight for justice and equality.
About the Author
I was born in Mexico City and grew up in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. I received my BFA from Parsons School of Design and my BA from Eugene Lang College, both of them divisions of the New School University in New York City. My first picture book "Dear Primo, a letter to my cousin" is published by H N Abrams and will be in stores March 1st, 2010. My illustrations of the AH1N1 in Mexico were selected to be a part of CONACULTA's catalog of Mexican illustrators for children and young adults. They also appeared in the BBC when the pandemic broke out. My short graphic novel Journey of a Mixteco was awarded the prize for the best thesis in the Integrated Design Curriculum department at Parsons. It appeared serially in the webcomix site topshelfcomix 2.0I'm currently working on two new picture books. And I regularly upload new illustrations about current events to my blog.
