Book Descriptions
for Jazz Owls by Margarita Engle and Rudy Gutierrez
From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
Most of this novel-in-verse recounting what happened before, during, and after what are unfortunately known as the Zoot Suit Riots is told through the eyes of three members of one family: Ray, 12, when the story begins, and his older sisters Marisela,14, and Lorena, 16. A patriotic family with an older brother fighting in the war, their identity as proud Mexican Americans is at odds with those who see them and as Mexican only. Marisela is a “jazz owl” who spends her evenings dancing with sailors. Ray, too, loves to dance, while Lorena is focused on education. The 1943 riots are fueled by tensions after the conviction (overturned two years later) of a group of Latino men for murder. The riots were started by U.S. sailors attacking young Zoot Suit-wearing Mexican Americans, whom the police pursued and media blamed. In the aftermath, Ray, who was humiliated by the police, pursues dance with greater intention. Marisela, working in a war plant, becomes a strike organizer and also longs to marry the Cuban drummer she is in love with, but he’s classified as white and mixed marriage is illegal. Lorena takes a job at an airplane plant, dreams of learning to fly, and finds a way to proudly affirm her Mexican American identity when she protests a factory Beauty Contest. An author’s note provides more context for the tensions of the times. (Age 12 and older)
CCBC Choices 2019. © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2019. Used with permission.
From the Publisher
“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.
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.
Publisher description retrieved from Google Books.
