Dreams to Ashes

A powerful nonfiction picture book about the history of Chinese immigration to the West Coast of the United States, presented through the lens of the 1871 Los Angeles Chinatown Massacre. At the time, LA was more small town than city, with a total population under six thousand. Newspapers routinely published anti-Chinese rhetoric, and when a conflict broke out between two mutual aid societies, a mob gathered in response. The ensuing overnight massacre left eighteen Chinese men dead as their dreams for their future turned to ashes.

New York Times bestselling author Livia Blackburne and illustrator Nicole Xu bring this essential moment in American history to picture book readers.