Join Joyride Bookshop and NCM for an event with author María Dolores Águila (she/her) inside Joyride Bookshop at The New Children’s Museum!  

María will read her debut picture book, Barrio Rising, in which Elena takes us along during the 12 day uprising and protest that ultimately results in the creation of Barrio Logan’s beloved Chicano Park. 

From the publisher: 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. 

Following the reading, María will talk about the childhood experiences that led her to become an author and be available to sign her books, which will be available in both English and Spanish! 

Barrio Rising is geared toward children ages 4-8, but all are welcome.