Praise for Barrio Rising

Kirkus Starred Review:

 “Águila’s sharp, evocative text touches upon crucial moments: the community’s peaceful takeover of the disputed site, clashes with the police and city officials, and the arrival of allies in neighboring communities and across the state. A brief appended historical overview of Chicano Park provides much-needed context on Barrio Logan, celebrates key figures of the movement, and draws a line from those 12 days of protest in 1970 to the park’s current status as a cultural hub. A marvelous testament to barrio-based might.”

Publisher’s Weekly Starred Review:

“In this activist picture book, a child living in San Diego’s Barrio Logan vividly narrates, in English and Spanish, a story of individual and collective strength […] a powerful work that celebrates community engagement at any age…”

School Library Journal:

“In an inspirational picture book inspired by a true story, a community comes together to fight for their rights and bring something beautiful to their neighborhood […] This true-to-life title is a worthy addition to picture book collections, sure to spark conversation and inspire young readers.”

and

“Told with lyricism, this picture book presents kids with a real-life community experience of advocacy. Readers will come to understand how the trials and tribulations of a group of vecinos uniting created something beautiful […] Recommended for all ­collections, especially those serving Chicano ­communities.”

Booklist:

“Chicana poet Águila employs lyrical language to depict a thinly fictionalized account of the April 1970 protest by San Diego’s Barrio Logan residents, who successfully convinced the city to build a long-promised park instead of a police station in their neighborhood […] this is a welcome addition to Chicane resistance and resilience literature.”

Photographs of María

Biographies

Micro:

María Dolores Águila is a Newbery Honor–winning Chicana poet and the author of Barrio Rising, Menudo Sunday, and the award-winning novel in verse A Sea of Lemon Trees. Inspired by Chicane history and art, she writes empowering and inclusive stories for young readers.

Short:

Newbery Honor–winning author María Dolores Águila is a Chicana poet and the author of Barrio Rising, Menudo Sunday, and A Sea of Lemon Trees. Inspired by Chicane history and art, she writes empowering and inclusive stories for young readers. Her work has also received a Pura Belpré Author Honor and the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction, and has been featured by NPR, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, and People en Español.

Medium:

Newbery Honor–winning author María Dolores Águila is a Chicana poet and the author of Barrio Rising, Menudo Sunday, and A Sea of Lemon Trees. Inspired by Chicane history and art, she writes empowering and inclusive stories for young readers. Her work has also received a Pura Belpré Author Honor and the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction, and has been featured by NPR, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, and People en Español.

Her love of storytelling began early. She memorized The Twelve Dancing Princesses before she could even read. By age ten, frustrated by the lack of Latine representation in books, she tried writing her own novel. In seventh grade, reading The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros was a turning point. It was the first time María saw a Chicana voice in literature, and it made her believe she could become a writer too.

Today, she loves drinking coffee, browsing the stacks at her local library, and spending time with her family.

Long:

María Dolores Águila is a Newbery Honor–winning Chicana poet and author from San Diego whose work celebrates resistance and resilience. Her debut middle-grade novel in verse, A Sea of Lemon Trees, received a Newbery Honor and a Pura Belpré Author Honor, and won the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction, the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award, and the Charlotte Huck Award; it was also longlisted for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. Her debut picture book, Barrio Rising (illustrated by Magdalena Mora), won the 2025 John and Patricia Beatty Award and was featured in NPR’s Books We Love. Her second picture book, Menudo Sunday (illustrated by Erika Meza), received starred reviews from School Library Journal and Publishers Weekly and was featured in The Washington Post as one of the season’s best new children’s books. Rooted in Chicane history, María’s writing seeks to honor the complexity and collective strength of her culture.

Her love for storytelling began in childhood. She memorized The Twelve Dancing Princesses before she could even read. By age ten, she was already drafting her first novel, driven by the absence of Latine characters in the books around her. Everything changed in seventh grade when she read The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. Seeing a Chicana voice on the page for the first time made her feel seen and sparked the dream of one day becoming a writer.

Raised by a single mother who worked as a house cleaner, María had no clear path to publishing, but she made her own way, fueled by passion and persistence. María lives in San Diego, where she can often be found drinking cafecito, browsing the stacks at her local library, or spending time with her husband and three kids.