A Sea of Lemon Trees: The Corrido of Roberto Alvarez

Twelve-year-old Roberto Alvarez is the youngest of his siblings, 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.

Amid threats of deportation, the Comité de Vecinos risk everything to stand their ground and, with the support of the Mexican Consulate, choose Roberto as the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit against the school board in this vivid and uplifting novel in verse based on true events.