Give audiobooks, support local bookstores! Start gifting
El barrio se levanta by María Dolores Águila
  Send as gift   Add to Wish List

Almost ready!

In order to save audiobooks to your Wish List you must be signed in to your account.

      Log in       Create account
Illustration of person sitting

Shop small, give big!

With credit bundles, you choose the number of credits and your recipient picks their audiobooks—all in support of local bookstores.

Start gifting
Phone showing make the switch message

Limited-time offer

Get two free audiobooks!

Now’s a great time to shop indie. When you start a new one credit per month membership supporting local bookstores with promo code SWITCH, we’ll give you two bonus audiobook credits at sign-up.

Sign up today

El barrio se levanta

The Protest That Built Chicano Park

$5.00

Narrator Kiara Beltrán

This audiobook uses AI narration.

We’re taking steps to make sure AI narration is transparent.

Learn more
Translator David Bowles
Length 19 minutes
Language Spanish
  Send as gift   Add to Wish List

Almost ready!

In order to save audiobooks to your Wish List you must be signed in to your account.

      Log in       Create account

Summary

Un vívido relato de ficción histórica sobre el activismo comunitario que dio lugar a la construcción del Parque Chicano de San Diego, hogar de la colección de murales al aire libre más grande de los Estados Unidos, ejemplo de la rica historia de resistencia y resiliencia de la comunidad mexicoamericana.

Barrio Logan, uno de los vecindarios chicanos más antiguos de San Diego, una vez rebosaba de familias y se extendía hasta la gloriosa Bahía de San Diego. Pero con el paso de los años, la comunidad perdió su playa y acceso a la bahía debido a la construcción de fábricas, deshuesaderos, y una carretera interestatal que dividió el barrio y obligó a miles de personas a abandonar sus hogares. Luego, en 1970, los residentes descubrieron que el equipo que creían que construiría un parque —tal como la ciudad les había prometido hace años— en realidad comenzaba la edificación de una estación de policía. Entonces supieron que era hora de hacer oír sus voces. El barrio se levanta invita a los lectores a unirse a la valiente joven activista Elena y sus vecinos durante su exitosa ocupación de tierras y más allá, cuando los residentes de Barrio Logan se juntaron para construir el colorido parque que se convertiría en el corazón de la comunidad chicana de San Diego.

ENGLISH DESCRIPTION

A vivid historical fiction account of the community activism behind San Diego's Chicano Park—home to the largest outdoor mural collection in the U.S.—and just one example of the Mexican American community’s rich history of resistance and resilience.

Barrio Logan, one of San Diego’s oldest Chicane neighborhoods, once brimmed with families and stretched all the way to the glorious San Diego Bay. But in the decades after WWII, the community lost their beach and bayfront to factories, junkyards, and an interstate that divided the neighborhood and forced around 5,000 people out of their homes. Then on April 22, 1970, residents discovered that the construction crew they believed was building a park—one the city had promised them years ago—was actually breaking ground for a police station. That’s when they knew it was time to make their voices heard. Barrio Rising invites readers to join a courageous young activist and her neighbors in their successful twelve-day land occupation and beyond, when Barrio Logan banned together and built the colorful park that would become the corazón of San Diego's Chicane community.

Illustration of person sitting

Shop small, give big!

With credit bundles, you choose the number of credits and your recipient picks their audiobooks—all in support of local bookstores.

Start gifting
Phone showing make the switch message

Limited-time offer

Get two free audiobooks!

Now’s a great time to shop indie. When you start a new one credit per month membership supporting local bookstores with promo code SWITCH, we’ll give you two bonus audiobook credits at sign-up.

Sign up today

Reviews

A One Book, One San Diego Kids selection!

*“A blossoming young activist joins her neighbors in the fight to build Chicano Park in Águila and Mora’s celebratory tribute to San Diego’s Chicane community. . . . Charged with soft purples, vivid greens, and bold reds, Mora’s lush digitally colored charcoal and watercolor artwork dreamily elevates this tale of social achievement, depicting pivotal scenes like a series of interconnected murals. Águila’s sharp, evocative text touches upon crucial moments: the community’s peaceful takeover of the disputed site, clashes with the police and city officials, and the arrival of allies in neighboring communities and across the state.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

*“In this activist picture book, a child living in San Diego’s Barrio Logan vividly narrates, in English and Spanish, a story of individual and collective strength. . . . In a powerful work that celebrates community engagement at any age, Mora’s pencil, charcoal, watercolor, and digital illustrations contrast hard-edged concrete and metal with cloudlike jacaranda blossoms and vivid hand-rendered murals.”—PW, starred review

“Águila weaves together images of daily life in Barrio Logan with community members’ experiences of the city’s lengthy neglect and environmental racism against their community, to tell the story of the fight to build the park, which was ultimately successful. . . . Mora employs a blend of vivid colors, sepia tones, and pastel hues to highlight the intensity of the struggle and the everyday beauty for which the protesters were fighting, ending with depictions of the inspiring murals that residents eventually painted in the park.”—Horn Book

“Told with lyricism, this picture book presents kids with a real-life community experience of advocacy. Readers will come to understand how the trials and tribulations of a group of vecinos uniting created something beautiful. Recommended for all collections, especially those serving Chicano ­communities.”—School Library Journal for El barrio se levanta
 
“This true-to-life title is a worthy addition to picture book collections, sure to spark conversation and inspire young readers.”—School Library Journal for Barrio Rising

“Chicana poet Águila employs lyrical language to depict a thinly fictionalized account of the April 1970 protest by San Diego's Barrio Logan residents . . . Aztec and Mayan cultural symbols appear throughout, reflecting the actual artwork in the park. Appended with a more detailed history of this event and additional resources, this is a welcome addition to Chicane resistance and resilience literature.”—Booklist Expand reviews
Give audiobooks, support local bookstores! Start gifting