In 1871, anti-Chinese sentiment led to a riot that killed 18 men and destroyed homes and businesses in Los Angeles.
Livia Blackburne tells the story in the children’s picture book “Dreams to Ashes: The 1871 Los Angeles Massacre” and joins host Scott Tong to talk about it.
3 questions with Livia Blackburne
This is a dark story. Why present it as a children’s book?
“I get that question a lot. And you know, believe it or not, I didn’t hear about [the Chinatown massacre] and immediately think it was going to be a great bedtime story!
“It was more the format that drew me. I’m familiar with picture books, I think they’re really good for getting information across. They are also beautiful, and they require you to distill information down to its essential details. And so in that way, it’s a good way for both children and adults to learn about a topic.
“I have to give credit to Carol Boston Weatherford for her beautiful and devastating book ‘Unspeakable’ about the Tulsa Race Massacre. That book was what convinced me it was possible to write about dark topics in a children’s book. And for the record, this is a children’s book recommended for age 7 and up.”
During and since COVID, attacks on Asian Americans have gone up. Today’s discourse in this country allows a certain tone about China and things that are made in China. Do you find this book important at this moment?
“I do. And you know, as writers, we always want our work to be relevant, but in this case, I fear that it might be a little too relevant. I was writing it during COVID with the anti-Asian violence on the rise, and now, you know, it’s just come out during a time when immigration is at the forefront of our national consciousness. And the rhetoric around both China and immigrants is really negative and dehumanizing, which reminds me sadly a lot of the years before the Chinatown massacre. I think it’s really important to be aware that, you know, immigrants are people. And also to be aware of how easily that humanity can be forgotten in the right circumstances and how tragic that can be.”
We are also in a moment when books on race and history in some cases are being removed from libraries. Do you think about your book coming out at a moment like that?
“I do think about it a lot in the sense of how it affects the distribution of the book and also the difficulties it presents in getting the message across to communities and to children.
“I think we are afraid of what we don’t know, and if children do not have a chance to read stories about people who are different than they are, then that’s a really dangerous thing for our society.”
Book excerpt: ‘Dreams to Ashes’
By Livia Blackburne
“Dreams to Ashes: The 1871 Los Angeles Chinatown Massacre” by Livia Blackburne and illustrated by Nicole Xu. Text copyright © 2025 by Livia Blackburne. Illustrations copyright © 2025 by Nicole Xu. Used with the permission of Carolrhoda Books, a division of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this text excerpt may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the prior written permission of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.
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Emiko Tamagawa produced and edited this interview for broadcast with Todd Mundt. Tamagawa also adapted it for the web.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
Copyright 2025 WBUR