Civil rights leader Jose Gutierrez chronicles the life of Severita Lara, a little-known female activist in the Hispanic Civil Rights Movement. Lara's ascent from a willful child to the mayor of Crystal City, Texas all began with the Crystal City High student walkout in 1969. Grade 6 Up-Several chapters cover Lara's childhood and early teen years in Crystal City, TX, including the summer she and her sister spent as migrant laborers. The chapter devoted to the 29-day 1969 school boycott that she organized to bring national attention to equal rights for Chicano students is the most inspiring part of this biography. Lara married her high school sweetheart and had a child before she graduated. After she accepted a scholarship and spent time in Mexico as a medical student, she and her husband parted ways. Eventually they reconciled and the author chronicles their roller-coaster relationship. Lara is an important figure whose rise to political power despite the nonacceptance of her heritage and gender needs to be told. However, this book does not do her justice. The author is a noted writer for adults, but he has not yet found his voice for youth. At times, the writing is choppy and pedestrian and some important details are told after the fact or connecting pieces are left out. Six black-and-white photos illustrate the various stages of Lara's life. An epilogue includes a Web site where readers can learn more and listen to Lara tell some of her story. Purchase this in areas where short biographies of important Hispanic heroes are needed and hope that a better-written volume is yet to come. -Linda L. Plevak, Saint Mary's Hall, San Antonio, TX Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. JOSÉ ANGEL GUTIÉRREZ is the author of a memoir for young adults The Making of a Civil Rights Leader: José Angel Gutiérrez (Piñata Books, 2005); two works of social commentary, A Chicano Manual on How to Handle Gringos (Arte Público Press, 2003) and A Gringo Manual on How to Handle Mexicans (Arte Público Press, 1998); and a memoir for adults, The Making of a Chicano Militant (University of Wisconsin Press, 1998). He is the editor and translator of Reies López Tijerina’s autobiography, They Called Me King Tiger (Arte Público Press, 2000). The founder and former director of the Center for Mexican American Studies at the University of Texas at Arlington, he is a professor of Political Science at the University of Texas at Arlington. He also practices law in Dallas, Texas, where he lives with his family. Used Book in Good Condition