When she was only eight years old, Sylvia Mendez was part of a legal battle that ended segregation for Hispanic students in California. Seven years later, that barrier-breaking court case set a precedent for ending segregation across the country for students of all races and backgrounds. With this biography, readers will learn how Sylvia Mendez's parents fought for Hispanic students in California, how Mendez herself persevered through court cases and harassment at her new school, and how she is fighting for student today.
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Gr 1-4-A mix of familiar and less familiar names rounds out this series profiling individuals who are chosen for being leaders in their fields and breaking boundaries along the way. Cesar Chavez, Sylvia Mendez, and even Misty Copeland to some extent, have all been written about over the years. More recently, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Claudette Colvin have become more widely recognized; these titles are welcome additions to the canon. Visually appealing layouts are coupled with engaging text that is broken up into accessible chunks of information covering career highlights and explanations for their inclusion in the "Barrier-Breaker" series. VERDICT These are good choices for elementary collections looking to update their offerings of introductory biographies.?(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.