"Perfect for history buffs, dance enthusiasts, poets, and just about anyone looking for a great story." --School Library Journal (starred review)

From the Young People's 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 beckons 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 sailors--until the blazing summer night when racial violence leads to murder.

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

In soaring images and searing poems, this is the breathtaking story of what became known as the Zoot Suit Riots.

This acclaimed bilingual children's book, Spanish/English, is a fun way to introduce simple words and phrases in both languages and is sure to be a welcome resource at home and in schools and libraries. Monica Brown and Rudy Gutierrez team up to deliver what Kirkus called, in a starred review, an "inspiring blend of art and story," about the most famous soccer star in the world, Pele. This bilingual picture book will inspire, teach, and amaze readers as they learn about the man who revolutionized the sport of soccer. Do you know how a poor boy from Brazil who loved futbol more than anything else became the biggest soccer star the world has ever known? This is the true story of Pele, King of Soccer, the first man in the history of the sport to score a thousand goals and become a living legend. Rudy Gutierrez's dynamic illustrations make award-winning author Monica Brown's story of this remarkable sports hero come alive!