From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry: The Killing of Vincent Chin and the Trial That Galvanized the Asian American Movement

America in 1982: Japanese car companies are on the rise and believed to be putting U.S. autoworkers out of their jobs. Anti-Asian American sentiment simmers, especially in Detroit. A bar fight turns fatal, leaving a Chinese American man, Vincent Chin, beaten to death at the hands of two white men, autoworker Ronald Ebens and his stepson, Michael Nitz.

Paula Yoo has crafted a searing examination of the killing and the trial and verdicts that followed. When Ebens and Nitz pled guilty to manslaughter and received only a $3,000 fine and three years' probation, the lenient sentence sparked outrage. The protests that followed led to a federal civil rights trial--the first involving a crime against an Asian American--and galvanized what came to be known as the Asian American movement.

Extensively researched from court transcripts, contemporary news accounts, and in-person interviews with key participants, From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry is a suspenseful, nuanced, and authoritative portrait of a pivotal moment in civil rights history, and a man who became a symbol against hatred and racism.

Author: Paula Yoo
Publisher: Norton Young Readers
Published: 04/20/2021
Pages: 384
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.94lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.30w x 1.10d
ISBN: 9781324002871
Audience: Young Adult


Award: National Book Awards - Nominee
Award: Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards - Winner
Award: Yalsa Award for Excellence in Non-Fiction for Young Adults - Finalist


Review Citation(s):
Booklist 03/15/2021 pg. 45
Kirkus Reviews 01/01/0001
Publishers Weekly 04/26/2021
School Library Journal 05/01/2021 pg. 102
Horn Book Magazine 05/01/2021 pg. 159
Shelf Awareness 05/07/2021

About the Author
Yoo, Paula: - Paula Yoo is an award-winning children's picture book author and novelist, a prolific TV writer/producer, and a freelance violinist. From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry is her debut YA nonfiction book. She lives in Los Angeles.