Vancouver, British Columbia Sep 24, 2026 (Issuewire.com) - Available on YouTube, the trailer introduces viewers to Julian Solbriozo, a young Chicano artist from California's San Joaquin Valley whose draft into the U.S. Army sets him on a years-long journey through conflict, labor unrest, and a search for a life shaped on his own terms.

The trailer opens with funeral imagery: Easter Sunday in a small California valley town, mariachi music, mourners gathered in black and white, and two men reading a letter over a grave. From there, it introduces the world surrounding Julian and the historical tensions that shape his story.

Set in the mid-twentieth-century San Joaquin Valley, The Iron Grains follows Julian, a junior college student and aspiring artist drafted into the U.S. Army as the Vietnam War casts its shadow over his community. His military service at Fort Ord, including demanding drills and simulated combat exercises, became an essential part of the experiences that shaped his life.

After his service, Julian's life takes him through a series of arduous experiences, including work as an orderly at a county hospital, involvement in farmworker labor struggles, and time in county jail. These experiences unfold against a period marked by labor activism, anti-war sentiment, and broader social change in California's Central Valley.

Flight is also central in Julian's story. His journey to become a pilot, including flights over the San Joaquin Valley, becomes associated with his search for independence and possibility. As the novel moves from California to Oregon and across the American West, Julian's changing surroundings parallel the larger questions surrounding identity, memory, and belonging.

The Iron Grains is a work of fiction informed by the historical and cultural currents of its era, including the Chicano civil rights movement, farmworker activism in the San Joaquin Valley, and anti-war sentiment during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Through Julian's experiences, the novel explores questions of conflict, artistic ambition, identity, and the lasting effects of historical upheaval. The book trailer draws on these elements of Julian's journey, using imagery connected to military service, conflict, art, and his search for belonging.

Jess Zepeda is a lifelong Californian based in San Francisco. He is an artist who formerly worked with the San Francisco Women's Art Group and has had his paintings featured internationally. He also spent twenty-six years working as a substitute educator in California schools, an experience reflected in the novel's close attention to art-making, community, and the formative influence of place.

The official book trailer for The Iron Grains is now streaming on YouTube. The book is available on Amazon and other major digital bookstores.

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