Set in 1940’s Los Angeles, this story told in verse focuses on Latinx siblings who love to dance, it’s freedom, it’s an escape from the serious issues they face like work conditions, laws against interracial relationships, police violence, and the Zoot Suit Riots (or as the book notes it should be called, the Sailor Riots). Although this is set in the past, much of it is relevant for right now, too.

The writing here is very accessible, the poetry isn’t all that flowery though there are certainly moments of beauty particularly in the descriptions of dance. Also beautiful are the illustrations that separate the sections of the story, each a black and white work of art worth taking a moment to absorb before turning the page.

I knew shamefully little about the Zoot Suit Riots (a.k.a the Sailor Riots) going into this, I’d heard the name, I didn’t know exactly what it was or what had happened. Jazz Owls lays out the facts of this ugly history while at the same time making it that much more personal, that much more harrowing with a boy you’ve come to care about, who only wanted to dress cool, to dance, to escort his sisters, and you see him victimized, you feel the horrifying lack of punishment and the way it stays with him after.

While there are some aspects of this I would have liked to have seen expanded upon like the romance and the older brother at war (especially how he was treated), for the most part I was impressed by how much this book managed to say in so few words, immersing you in the time and culture. ( )