Cover Image

Reaching out

by Jiménez, Francisco, 1943-

Format: Print Book 2008
Availability: Available at 1 Library 1 of 1 copy

Noncirculating (1)
Location Collection Call #
CLP - Main Library First Floor Children's Department - Special Collections rj FICTION Jimenez
Location  CLP - Main Library
 
Collection  First Floor Children's Department - Special Collections
 
Call Number  rj FICTION Jimenez
 
 

Summary
From the perspective of the young adult he was then, Francisco Jiménez describes the challenges he faced in his efforts to continue his education.
During his college years, the very family solidarity that allowed Francisco to survive as a child is tested. Not only must he leave his family behind when he goes to Santa Clara University, but while Francisco is there, his father abandons the family and returns to Mexico. This is the story of how Francisco coped with poverty, with his guilt over leaving his family financially strapped, with his self-doubt about succeeding academically, and with separation. Once again his telling is honest, true, and inspiring.
Published Reviews
Booklist Review: "*Starred Review* Papa's raging depression intensifies young Jiménez's personal guilt and conflict in the 1960s: So now you think you're better than us because you are going to college! He is the first in his Mexican American migrant family to attend college in California. While at home, the family struggles with backbreaking work and lives without indoor plumbing; in college, Jiménez finds friends and mentors in class and at church, discovers the great literature in his native Spanish language, and joins César Chávez in the drive to unionize farm workers. Like his other fictionalized autobiographies, The Circuit (1997) and Breaking Through (2001), this sequel tells Jiménez's personal story in self-contained chapters that join together in a stirring narrative. As he works many jobs to send something home, he is haunted by memories of his childhood spent laboring in the fields, and in college, he tells no one that he was born in Mexico and is not an American citizen. Rooted in the past, Jiménez's story is also about the continuing struggle to make it in America, not only for immigrant kids but also for those in poor families. Never melodramatic or self-important, the spare episodes will draw readers with the quiet daily detail of work, anger, sorrow, and hope.--Rochman, Hazel Copyright 2008 Booklist"
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Additional Information
Subjects Mexican American migrant agricultural laborers -- Fiction.
College students -- Fiction.
Families -- Fiction.
Separation (Psychology) -- Fiction.
California -- Fiction.
Autobiographical fiction.
Bildungsromans.
Young adult fiction.
Publisher Boston :Houghton Mifflin,2008
Language English
Notes Sequel to: Breaking through and The circuit.
Awards Pura Belpré Honor Book, author, 2009
Description vi, 196 pages : illustrations ; 19 cm
ISBN 9780618038510
0618038515
Other Classic View