Jovita Wore Pants [Valdovinos, Jovita]

Ages 6 to 9, Grades 1 to 4

The remarkable true story of Jovita Valdovinos, a Mexican revolutionary who disguised herself as a man to fight for her rights!Jovita dreamed of wearing pants! She hated the big skirts Abuela made her wear. She wanted to scale the tallest mesquite tree on her rancho, ride her horse, and feel the wind curl her face into a smile! When her father and brothers joined the Cristero War to fight for religious freedom, Jovita wanted to go, too. Forbidden, she defied her father’s rules – and society’s – and found a clever way to become a trailblazing revolutionary, wearing pants! This remarkable true story about a little-known maverick Mexican heroine is brought vividly to life by her great-niece and Américas Award–winner Aida Salazar, and Eisner Award–honoree Molly Mendoza.

About the Author

Molly Mendoza is an American illustrator and comics artist who has been captivated by the relationships that she has built with friends, family, and foes alike over the course of her life. Molly sets out to emulate those relationships through her chaotic yet rhythmic style to make some dang-good drawings. Alongside personal/observational narrative, Molly enjoys making images of space travel, plants, ladies, and small dogs. Frequently she can be found working on editorial projects, making comics/zines, and eating hot dogs. Molly is a BFA graduate from the Pacific Northwest College of Art. She has gone on to develop a rich personal art practice, self-publishing numerous comics, as well as working with clients such as The New York Times and The Atlantic. She wrote and illustrated the Ignatz and Eisner Honor-winning graphic novel Skip (Nobrow) and illustrated Freedom We Sing by Amyra León (Flying Eye Books). Molly currently lives in Portland, Oregon. Visit her at mollymendoza.com.

Aida Salazar is an award-winning author and arts activist whose writings for adults and children explore issues of identity and social justice. She is the author of the middle-grade verse novels The Moon Within (International Latino Book Award Winner), Land of the Cranes (Américas Award Winner), and the forthcoming biography picture book Jovita Wore Pants: The Story of a Mexican Freedom Fighter. With Yamile Saied Méndez, she is slated to co-edit Calling the Moon, a middle-grade anthology on menstruation by writers of color. She is a founding member of Las Musas, a Latinx kidlit debut author collective. Her short story "By the Light of the Moon" was adapted into a ballet production by the Sonoma Conservatory of Dance and is the first Xicana-themed ballet in history. She lives with her family of artists in a teal house in Oakland, California.