Si, Se Puede! Yes, We Can! by Diana Cohn, Francisco Delgado (Illustrator), Luis J. Rodriguez

From the Publisher

Carlitos’ mother is a janitor. Every night, he sleeps while his mother cleans in one of the skyscrapers in downtown L.A. When she comes home, she waves Carlitos off to school before she goes to sleep. One night, his mamá explains that she can’t make enough money to support him and his abuelita the way they need unless she makes more money as a janitor. She and the other janitors have decided to go on strike.

Will he support her and help her all he can? Of course, Carlitos wants to help but he cannot think of a way until his teacher, Miss Lopez, explains in class how her own grandfather had fought for better wages for farmworkers when he first came to the United States. Finally, Carlitos knows how he can show his mamá how proud he is of her. He and the other children in his class make posters and Carlitos joins the marchers with a very special sign for his mom!

Diana Cohn, the author, is a social activist. As an elementary teacher, she discovered there were few books for children that discussed social issues, so she began to write as an avocation. She now works as Program Director for the Solidago Foundation, a foundation that supports communities working for economic and environmental justice. She lives on a houseboat in Sausalito, California.

Francisco Delgado, the illustrator, grew up in Juárez, Chihuahua, but completed high school in El Paso, Texas. He will -receive his MFA at Yale inPainting, Drawing, and Printmaking in May 2002. Francisco is becoming known nationally for his political paintings that satirize U.S. icons blind to the mestizo and immigrant communities of Mexico. He lives in New Haven, Connecticut. Luis J. Rodriguez (Always Running) adds the afterword and a poem.

Publishers Weekly

Focusing on the event in April 2000 that united 8,000 workers in the Justice for Janitors Campaign, -Si, Se Puede!/Yes, We Can!: Janitor Strike in L.A. by Diana Cohn, illus. by Francisco Delgado, trans. by Sharon Franco, chronicles the proceedings through the eyes of one female worker's son. An opening color-pencil sketch in fiesta-bright colors shows Mam tucking in Carlitos for bed before she leaves for work. She explains to her son the need for a strike, and a series of spreads chart the strikers' progress. A final spread profiles union organizer Dolores S nchez; the dust jacket doubles as a poster that explains labor unions and strikes, along with a poem by Luis J. Rodriguez.

Tricia Toy - Children's Literature

"ˇSí, Se Puede! Sí, Se Puede!" cries the crowd of underpaid janitors in this historical fiction picture book based on the janitor strike in Los Angeles, California in the year 2000. The book uses historically accurate details to tell about the strike while it uses a fictional family to make the book more personal. Carlitos is a young boy whose mother tucks him in every night and heads off to work as a janitor in a large office building. One evening, she tells Carlitos that she cannot take care of him and his grandmother the way she wishes she could because of the poor working conditions and that she and the other janitors are going on strike. The janitors are underpaid and work long hours, even on the weekends. As bathrooms go unclean and trash piles up, Carlitos is exposed to the importance of what his Mamá is doing. One day at school, Carlitos's teacher even talks about it. He realizes that he is not the only student in his class that has a parent involved. The children decide that they will combine together to help their parents out. Carlitos and his friends meet together to paint signs. They plan on rallying along with their parents. Carlitos makes a sign that says, "I love my Mamá, she is a janitor!" After three weeks the strike ends and the janitors receive the pay raises and respect that they have deserved and waited for. 2002, Cinco Puntos Press,

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