"Until now, you've only heard one side of the story, about migrants crossing borders, drawn to the promise of a better life. In reality, Mexicans were on this land long before any borders existed. Here's the true story of America, from the Mexican American perspective. The Mexican American story is usually carefully presented as a story of immigrants: migrants crossing borders, drawn to the promise of a better life. In reality, Mexicans were on this land long before any borders existed. Their culture and practices shaped the Southwestern part of this country, in spite of relentless attempts by white colonizers and settlers to erase them. From missions and the Alamo to muralists, revolutionaries, and teen activists, this is the true story of the Mexican American experience."--Back cover.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 335-338). Ages 10 and up. Crown Books for Young Readers. Ages 10-15. Crown Books for Young Readers. Grades 7-9. Crown Books for Young Readers.

Native migrations: the first footsteps -- The first colonization: Spanish settlement of the Southwest -- A culture interrupted: Mexico before the American invasion -- Land grabs and invasions: the Alamo and the Mexican American War -- The Anglos take over: the trauma of the second conquest -- Mexican Americans and the Civil War: The other Underground Railroad -- Railroading the borderlands -- The U.S. Borderlands and the Mexican Revolution -- The other side of the Mexican Revolution -- The ethnic cleansing of brown America -- Mexican Americans during World War II -- The Chicano movement -- The Hispanic decade -- The New World border: one wall comes down, another goes up -- The border becomes "ground zero" -- Today's truths: an unwillingness to disappear.