Author :
Francisco Jimenez
5th Grade and up
Mas alla de mi
Reaching Out
Mas
alla de mi, Softcover, Spanish, Book, Francisco Jimenez, 5th Grade and
up, 9780547250311, $6.99
Reaching
Out, Softcover, English, Book, Francisco Jimenez, 5th Grade and
up, 9780547250304, $6.99
$333.83 for the Story Collection Pura Belpre Spanish Set, Including 20%-Off, Free Shipping, and No Sales Tax : 2 Hardcover Spanish Book, 8 Hardcover Bilingual Book, 19 Softcover Spanish Books, and 12 Softcover Bilingual Books
$448.07 for the Story Collection Pura Belpre English Set, Including 20%-Off, Free Shipping, and No Sales Tax : 24 Hardcover English Books and 18 Softcover English Books
Pura Belpre Award Honor Book in 2009 for Narrative
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.
School Library Journal : Grade 8 Up—Jiménez, the son of Mexican immigrants, left behind a life of hard work and poverty when he entered Santa Clara University in 1962. Here, he chronicles his college years and introduces people who befriended him as well as those who had prejudices against Mexicans. Throughout his story, the difficulties of his transition from family life to college life are evident. His palpable fear of failure was mitigated by those who helped him recognize his worth and develop and strengthen his character. The book ends as he is bound for graduate school at Columbia University. This sequel to Breaking Through (2001) and The Circuit (1999, both Houghton) again brings to the forefront the daily trials of poor immigrant families. The author poignantly relates his family's struggles and how their teamwork enabled him to attend college. While the book relates his trials and successes, it also tells how his family members overcame their own obstacles. Using the style of a good storyteller, Jiménez gives voice to strong familial bonds with an intensity that is both compelling and honest. The family photographs at the end of the book add a nice touch.
Booklist :
*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. Grades 7-12. --Hazel Rochman --This
text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Kirkus Reviews : "This sequel to The Circuit (1997) and Breaking Through (2001), which covered Mexican-born Jimenez's childhood, takes Francisco through his college years at the University of Santa Clara. After long years working in California fields and living in labor camps, Francisco is the first in his family to attend college, and this volume is a tribute to all first-generation college students and the many people who made a difference in Francisco's own life. As he says to his family at graduation, "We all did it." It's a bittersweet story, though, as Francisco frequently feels guilty at the sacrifices made on his behalf, and even as he heads to Columbia University for graduate studies on a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, he yearns for stability in his life and a place to call home. While the first two volumes felt as though they were collections of autobiographical short stories, this is a more linear and straightforward autobiographical novel, simply and eloquently told. An inspiring account of a remarkable journey."
Story
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