Dreams to Ashes: The 1871 Los Angeles Chinatown Massacre

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.