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nancy@nancykeane.com
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Jimenez,
Francisco
THE CIRCUIT :
STORIES FROM THE LIFE OF A MIGRANT CHILD
Boston :
Houghton Mifflin, 1999.
IL 5-8, RL
5.0
ISBN
0395979021
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Francisco
was 4 years old back in the 1940's when he first
heard about La frontera. His father
said that one day the family would take a long trip
north and cross La frontera and enter
California. They would then be able to leave
the life of poverty behind. A person could
make a future for himself in California. When
the day came for the family to leave, Francisco was
very excited but not sure what to expect. The
family traveled on a train until they were close to
the border. They then traveled on foot
through the night. Picked up by a stranger in
a truck, the family was driven to farm and told
this is where they would work. What follows
is years of moving and working. Life is not
easy for a migrant worker. The hours are long
and the pay is minimal. And the families must
move often to follow the crops. Each time
Francisco gets settled in school and begins to make
friends, it is time for the family to pack up all
their belongings in a cardboard box and move
on. Francisco tells the story of growing up
as a migrant worker through the eyes of a
child. This story is based on the author's
own childhood.
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SUBJECTS:
Mexican Americans -- Social life and customs --
Fiction.
Migrant labor -- Fiction.
Mexican American families -- Fiction.
California -- Fiction.
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© 
Permission is
granted for the noncommercial duplication and use of this
resource, provided it is substantially unchanged from its
present form and appropriate credit is
given.
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