After dark in a Mexican border town, a father holds open a hole in a wire fence as his wife and two small boys crawl through.

So begins life in the United States for many people every day. And so begins this collection of twelve autobiographical stories by Santa Clara University professor Francisco Jiménez, who at the age of four illegally crossed the border with his family in 1947.

"The Circuit," the story of young Panchito and his trumpet, is one of the most widely anthologized stories in Chicano literature. At long last, Jiménez offers more about the wise, sensitive little boy who has grown into a role model for subsequent generations of immigrants.

These independent but intertwined stories follow the family through their circuit, from picking cotton and strawberries to topping carrots--and back again--over a number of years. As it moves from one labor camp to the next, the little family of four grows into ten. Impermanence and poverty define their lives. But with faith, hope, and back-breaking work, the family endures.

"A jewel of a book"--Rolando Hinojosa-Smith

"These stories are so realistic they choke the heart."--Rudolfo Anaya

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Unm Press
Published: 10/01/1997
ISBN: 9780826317971
Pages: 146
Weight: 0.30lbs
Size: 7.00h x 4.80w x 0.50d
Award: Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards - Winner
Award: Young Hoosier Book Award - Nominee
Award: Americas Award for Children & Young Adult Literature - Winner

Review Citations: Booklist 12/01/1997 pg. 619
Booklist Ed Choice Youth 01/01/1998 pg. 734
ALA Best Books Young Adults 01/01/1999 pg. 1301
ALA Recmd for Reluctant YA's 01/01/2000 pg. 1362

Accelerated Reader Quiz #/Name: 2485 / Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child
Reading Level: 5.3 / Interest Level: Middle Grade / Point Value: 4