Publisher Description
Sylvia never expected to be at the center of a landmark legal battle; all she wanted was to enroll in school.
Aki never expected to be relocated to a Japanese internment camp in the Arizona desert; all she wanted was to stay on her family farm and finish the school year.
The two girls certainly never expected to know each other, until their lives intersected in Southern California during a time when their country changed forever.
Here is the remarkable story based on true events of Sylvia Mendez and Aki Munemitsu, two ordinary girls living in extraordinary times. When Sylvia and her brothers are not allowed to register at the same school Aki attended and are instead sent to a "Mexican" school, the stage is set for Sylvia's father to challenge in court the separation of races in California's schools. Ultimately, Mendez vs. Westminster School District led to the desegregation of California schools and helped build the case that would end school segregation nationally.
Through extensive interviews with Sylvia and Aki—still good friends to this day—Winifred Conkling brings to life two stories of persistent courage in the face of tremendous odds.
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About Stacy Gonzalez
J. Michael Straczynski is a New York Times bestselling and award-winning author who has written hundreds of hours of television, major motion pictures, and graphic novels. He is the widely acclaimed creator of Babylon 5, cocreator of Netflix’s Sense8, and writer for Clint Eastwood’s Changeling, which was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Screenplay. His other awards include two Hugo Awards, the SFWA Ray Bradbury Award, the Eisner Award, the American Cinema Foundation E Pluribus Unum Award, the Indie Book Award, the GLAAD Media Award, the Eagle Award, two Emmy Awards, and the SDCC Icon Award. The author of Together We Will Go, Becoming Superman, and Becoming a Writer, Staying a Writer, Straczynski lives in California.