A SEED IN THE SUN
October 2022, Dial/Penguin Random House, 304 pp
A farm working girl with big dreams meets activist Dolores Huerta and joins the 1965 protest for migrant workers’ rights in this tender-hearted middle grade novel in verse, perfect for fans of Rita Williams-Garcia and Pam Muñoz Ryan.
Lula Viramontes dreams of one day becoming someone whom no one can ignore: a daring ringleader in a Mexican traveling carpa, despite her father’s traditional views of what girls should be. When her family arrives for the grape harvest in Delano, California, Lula meets activist Dolores Huerta and el Teatro Campesino (the official theater company of the United Farm Workers). She discovers an even more pressing reason to raise her voice: the upcoming farm workers’ strike, an event that will determine her family’s future—for better or worse.
STARRED REVIEWS
BOOKLIST – “Led by a memorable protagonist, this novel mixes themes of growth and change with historical details and powerful observations on the abuses that sparked the Farmworkers’ Movement and the strength of those demanding justice.”
THE HORN BOOK – “a powerful coming-of-age story filled with evocative language, memorable characters, and apt nature imagery.”
BOOKPAGE – “A Seed in the Sun is a well-researched glimpse into the 1965 Delano grape strike and the 1960s movement for labor justice.”