The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child
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| The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child | |
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 The cover of the paperback edition. |
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| Author(s) | Francisco Jimenez |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Children's autobiographical novel |
| Publisher | University of New Mexico Press |
| Publication date | 1997 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 134 |
| ISBN | ISBN 978-0826317971 |
| OCLC Number | 36776380 |
The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child is an autobiographical novel by Francisco Jiménez based in part on his journey from Mexico to the United States of America. The book, narrated by the child's point of view, follows the life of young Panchito and his family as they move from one location to another to harvest crops in the United States. The book has two sequels, Breaking Through and the third book in the collection, Reaching Out. The author translated the novel into Spanish under the title Cajas de carton which was published by Houghton Mifflin.
[edit] Plot Summary
Francisco Jimenez also known, as Pancho; a young boy who lived at the small place in Mexico called EL Rancho Blanco. The family dreams about living in the place they can earn good income to support their family and live in a house that has electricity and running water. that someday we would take a long trip north, cross la frontera, enter California, and leave our poverty behind." So begins this honest and powerful account of a family's journey to the fields of California - to a life of constant moving; from strawberry fields to cotton fields; from tent cities to one-room shacks; from picking grapes to topping carrots and thinning lettuce. As the story moves from one labor camp to the next, the little family of four grows into ten. Impermanence and poverty define their lives. Seen through the eyes of a boy who longs for an education and the right to call one place home, these are a series of stories of survival, faith, and hope. When Francisco and Roberto went to school; they encounter a lot of problems because they cannot understand English. They sat in the corner and looked at a book and translate it to Spanish using the pictures they found. Pancho met a friend named, Miguelito, they hung out more often at school and home. Sadly Francisco loses his friend when Miguelito has to move away from the tent city because his family needs to earn money. Francisco drew a beautiful picture of a butterfly. One cold day, his teacher Miss Scalapino, notices that Pancho doesn’t have a coat. The principal Mr. Sims gives Francisco a jacket from the lost and found. However, the jacket belongs to Curtis, the biggest and the most popular kid in school. Suddenly, Curtis wants the jacket back. Francisco doesn’t understand English and he didn’t know what Curtis was saying. The two get into a fight. Francisco was embarrassed after the fight and he stop participating in class. One of his friends told him that he is brave for standing up to Curtis. One day Miss Scalapino announces that Francisco’s picture of the butterfly won in the exhibit. Francisco noticed that the cocoon was breaking out. Francisco opens the jar and set the butterfly free. After school, Curtis wanted to see the picture and he said that Francisco is a good artist. Francisco gives the picture to Curtis as a sign of peace offering. Soon, the immigration officer arrived at Francisco’s school(a few years later) and Mr. Denevi announces that Francisco and his family are being deported back to Mexico.
[edit] Author notes
Although born in Mexico and therefore a native speaker of Spanish, Jiménez decided to write the book in English in an effort to reach a wider audience. As a child, his first grade teacher did not allow him to speak Spanish at school. The inspiration for the book came in part from an experience during his sophomore year in high school, when he was asked to write an autobiographical piece. Eventually, this served as the base for his popular book and its two prequels. There is also a children's magazine that is an adaptation of one of the stories that appears within Time Magazine. Francisco Jiménez is currently a professor of Spanish Studies at Santa Clara University.
Fracisco Jimenez's website: www.scu.edu/fjimenez
[edit] External links
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