As the subtitle indicates, A Sea of Lemon Trees: The Corrido of Roberto Alvarez by María Dolores Águila (published 2025) tells the story of a young person, in a poetry-in-verse format, who stood up for civil rights in 1930s San Diego. In this middle grade historical fiction novel, the young Mexican-American Roberto narrates his story of being excluded from school and his court case pleading his cause, in hopes of returning to school. Corrido means “ballad” and the poetic nature of the text gives value to this 2026 Newbery Honoree.
In the wake of the stock market crash, minority groups were discriminated against and denied basic rights, simply because of their race. Roberto Alvarez was a real 12-year-old boy who represented the 70+ students excluded from the neighborhood public school. Although he and the other students were children of immigrants, most were born in California and Roberto especially was a good student. Discrimination was under the guise of the students needing remedial help at a separate (but of course not equal) school. In reality, the communities were angry with the “Mexican” workers supposedly hurting the economy by taking jobs and didn’t want the stereotypically “dirty Mexican” from mingling in the neighborhood.
The members of the Lemon Tree community were threatened with deportation, and many were deported. Violence and intimidation were used to pressure the community. Nevertheless Roberto took on the responsibility of testifying in court that he and others wanted to be a part of the local society.
Roberto’s story was interesting. I was not familiar with the Lemon Grove Incident. It reminded me of the landmark case of Brown vs Board of Education, which would not be argued before the Supreme Court for 20 more years. In some respects, however, Roberto’s story wasn’t that dramatic. He did what he was told, and willingly. The discrimination was resolved within three months, and by March the students were reintegrated into their normal school. The thing that kept me reading was the poetic turns of phrase that gave a sense of the gorgeous setting.
Here is an example from the very first page:
I LIVE IN A
sea of lemon trees.
Rows and rows of trees,
studded with bright yellow globes,
tightly tucked within glossy green leaves
that rake your hand
when you reach in
to touch the sour-scented,
cream-colored blossoms.
A Sea of Lemon Trees was awarded a Newbery Honor for 2026. I am unsure how I feel about that designation. Without the poetic language, the story could have been told in a picture book. So, although it is nicely written, I do wonder at the interest for children today. The plot feels unfortunately somewhat unexceptional, and the poetry-in-verse gives it a lagging tempo that makes the three-month ordeal feel like more than it really was: a horrible discriminatory blip from local San Diego history.
