Like the heroine in her latest picture book, From the Fields to the Fight: How Jessica Govea Thorbourne Organized for Justice (illustrated by Sol Salinas), who fought for the rights of farm workers, Angela Quezada Padron has spoken up about unfair treatment, discrimination, and injustice since childhood, and she is not about to stop now. The book, which celebrates the women of the United Farm Workers union, is especially timely in light of the recent allegations of co-founder Cesar Chavez’s abuse. “I’d like people to understand that the movement was more than just one person, that people like Jessica were also involved in making a big impact,” Padron says. She’s also the author-illustrator of As the Seas Rise: Nicole Hernádez Hammer and Climate Justice and the forthcoming titles Lucía’s Goals (Lee & Low), Sisters All the Time (Charlesbridge), and An Island Called Home (Eerdmans). PW spoke with Padron about her work as an educator, editor, and an author-illustrator and publisher; why she feels called to tell the untold stories of strong Latinas; and the advice she believes Jessica Govea Thorbourne would give young readers living in our world today.

Can you tell us about your time in the classroom and what kind of curriculum you’ve created?

I began my 30-year career as an art teacher and then taught early elementary and fourth through sixth grades, too. But after I worked in a summer program for children of migrant workers—and being so connected to my father’s Dominican Republic culture and roots—I decided that I wanted to go into bilingual education to help migrant children and multilingual learners learn English to do well in school and beyond. I went back to school to become a bilingual and ESL teacher, and that became my passion. In addition, I started working as a developmental editor and author and began developing Spanish and ESL curriculum including content books, teacher’s guides, supplemental materials, and K–2 literacy decodable readers to help teach phonics and literacy skills, and online games.

Spending my summers in the Dominican Republic as a child and seeing how other people live differently than we did here in the United States, I learned from a very early age to appreciate what I had. These things impacted my world view. And because my father was a doctor and my mother was a nurse, the idea of helping people became important to me. I think that’s why I went into education. Then, when I started working with migrant children, I tried putting myself in their shoes and giving them the tools they needed to be able to be successful in their school and communities. As a result, I’ve always tried to advocate for and empower my students and their parents, and to consider their bilingualism and biculturalism as an asset, not a hindrance, to learning and for their future aspirations.

From teaching children to writing and illustrating books for children, how did you discover these Latina women and decide to write books to honor them?

While I had been illustrating and writing for kids since 2003, the idea came when I attended an SCBWI conference in 2020 where industry experts were talking about how there were very few books about famous Latinos who have made an impact in the world. With this in mind, I started doing research and came across Nicole Hernandez Hammer, a Latina climate scientist whom I wrote about in my first picture book biography, As the Seas Rise. And then I found out about Jessica Govea Thorbourne. Researching and writing these books has helped pave the way for me to bring together my proud Latina background and my passion to teach, advocate, and help migrant children and multilingual learners. In addition, writing From Field to the Fight has allowed me to share a story about someone who kept fighting for people’s rights and to encourage others to fight for justice for all.

Can share more about From the Fields to the Fight?

While writing my latest picture book biography, I wanted to focus on the fact that something so small as a grape could have such a big impact through a boycott; and someone as young as Thorbourne was when she started her fight for justice could make a difference. Everything that Thorbourne did from the time she was nine years old affected her as an adult—working with her father going door-to-door and passing out flyers, and getting the bug to organize. She kept doing it through her teenage years and fighting for what was right. I think kids need more stories like these. The world does, too. So, I will keep writing them.

In what ways would you like your books to empower readers of all ages?

I want my readers to realize that anyone at any age—including younger children—can have a passion and use it to make a difference. Maybe it’s in your school, neighborhood, or community where you can organize by finding people who have similar beliefs, passions, concerns, and find ways that you can work together to make change. All you need is one person to create a spark, and you can do it!

As for caretakers, educators, and librarians who read my book to children, I hope that they will encourage kids to follow their passions or something that they feel strongly about to make a difference. I hope they will also help to model good behavior towards people who may not speak the same language or share the same culture—and encourage greater empathy toward them. We are all human. We all are more alike than different and want the same things—to provide for our families and to contribute to society.

What advice do you think Thorbourne would give us today in light of current events?

Obviously, I cannot speak for her because I didn’t know her. But from learning about her and her actions, I think that she would say to find the way that you feel can make a difference, even if it’s small, and do it.

She often stepped outside of her comfort zone. And I think that if people took a moment and tried not to be afraid, they could help their neighbors and fellow human beings in need. Not everybody has a platform or is good at public speaking. Some people are braver than others. Some are better at recording videos to tell the truth. Others are good at bringing food and coffee to the people who are out there protesting. So, I think she’d say start small, don’t give up, and never stop fighting for justice.