Dreams to ashes The 1871 Los Angeles Chinatown Massacre

In this ruminative account of a lesser-known race riot that left 18 immigrants dead, Blackburne poses big, still cogent questions. The scene is set with glimpses of early Los Angeles as a rough town with a small population of new arrivals from China. Highlighting the role of local newspapers in dehumanizing the Chinese and whipping up fears that they will take jobs from white people--then, in the riot's aftermath, hypocritically decrying the resulting violence--she explains how racial tensions exploded in a half hour of killing and looting perpetrated by "respectable" citizens, from "councilmen and farmers" to "tax collectors, landladies and young boys." Though she ends on an upbeat note, both that observation and the fact that only eight rioters were ever convicted (the verdicts all later overturned on a technicality) should leave readers seeing parallels aplenty in recent events. Also, considering that the tragedy happened in wildfire-prone California, images of smoke and sparks in Xu's suggestive views of floating headlines, jagged flashes of armed men, and dignified figures in queues carry special resonance. Closing notes add photos and further detail.

Decades before the events traced in this narrative nonfiction work that's focused on the massacre of 18 Chinese men in 1871 Los Angeles, Blackburne writes, difficulties in China prompted thousands of young men to seek gold in California. When it proved elusive, "these travelers chased their fortune in other ways, as doctors and launderers, cooks and gangsters. Vegetable peddlers and houseboys.// As immigrants. Humans." Contextualizing lines introduce Los Angeles and, briefly, three men who lived there in the 1860s, during a time when physical violence toward Chinese people increased. A conflict that escalated in 1871 resulted in the deaths of 18 Chinese men and the destruction of Chinese businesses by a violent mob. Fire-oriented metaphors that hint at the coming conflagration describe growing tensions, while Xu's thick-lined ink and digital media illustrations incorporate images of fire, smoke, and sparks. A historical note and bibliography conclude. Ages 7--11. (Mar.)

Gr 2--5--The story of Chinatowns in America is the story of whether a community had one or two Chinatowns: one means that they got burnt down or pushed out; two means that the community was able to rebuild. This book recounts a previously less-than-well-known story of the massacre and subsequent push of the vibrant Chinese community in early Los Angeles to make way for the growth of the greater city. Meticulously researched and beautifully illustrated in full-color drawings with roughly 20--40 words per page, the story acknowledges the growing pains of pushing out of communities (Indigenous and other immigrant communities) by the Spanish colonial missions and later by Americans to make room for Western development. The book personalizes the plight of the Chinese with names of people who lived in Chinatown at the time, of the creation of a community and celebrations including a beautiful drawing of a dragon parading through Chinatown, and covers the horror of the trial and the racism of legislation of the Chinese Exclusion Act. The work includes a historical note, information about current anti-Asian racism, and a selected bibliography. VERDICT This deeply felt coverage of the inflection points for so many communities is a must-have for all libraries.--Vi Ha

A recounting of the 1871 riot that left 18 Chinese immigrants dead in Los Angeles. Using fire as a metaphor, Blackburne asks readers to consider the causes and effects of flashpoints in history before exploring the factors that led to this massacre. Her account begins decades earlier, when, due to war and disaster, thousands of Chinese men migrated to California in hopes of making a fortune in gold before returning home. When "gold proved elusive," they sought other jobs. By 1871, 172 of these men had formed a settlement in Los Angeles; the author focuses on three in particular: a doctor named Gene Tong, musician Tong Won, and cook Wing Chee. Blackburne poetically juxtaposes descriptions of these men ("Immigrants. Humans") with the buildup of xenophobia ("Aliens. Rats. Barbarians"). Words and violence continued to escalate until "a spark" of a gunfight feud ignited the fuel of hate. A mob looted stores and killed 18 people, including the three men introduced earlier. As the narrative wraps up, Blackburne considers the injustice perpetrated and the hypocrisy of newspapers that condemned the deaths but that had fanned the flames of racism; she ends on a hopeful note as she ponders how a country can learn from its past. Questions posed to readers throughout allow space for reflection, while Xu's art, created with ink and Photoshop, illustrates the action and the emotion with varied compositions. Deftly brings to light a lesser-known horror in the context of America's history of racism against Chinese immigrants. (historical note, photographs, bibliography)(Informational picture book. 7-12) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.