Francisco Jimenez immigrated with his family to California from Tlaquepaque, Mexico. He worked in the fields of California as a child, and his auto...
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Dec 04, 2008
Samira
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Samira lopes
I just finished reading The Circuit by Francisco Jimenez. it’s a fiction book of a young boy named Francisco and his family. The theme of this book is “ sometimes it takes the things that you never expected to get what you want”.
This book is about a seven year old boy named Francisco and his family. Francisco’s Mexican family consists of him, his older brother Roberto, his mother, and father. His family is from El Rancho Blanco and doesn’t have a wealthy lif More...
I just finished reading The Circuit by Francisco Jimenez. it’s a fiction book of a young boy named Francisco and his family. The theme of this book is “ sometimes it takes the things that you never expected to get what you want”.
This book is about a seven year old boy named Francisco and his family. Francisco’s Mexican family consists of him, his older brother Roberto, his mother, and father. His family is from El Rancho Blanco and doesn’t have a wealthy lif More...
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Sep 26, 2011
Deborah
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I read this for my class on Boys and Literacy. I plan to pair this non-fiction book with the fiction book, Crossing the Wire, by Will Hobbs, that I recently read. This book, Circuit, is a small book of short stories from the life of a migrant child in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The stories are interesting and very eye opening. This migrant child eventually grew up to be a professor of modern languages at Santa Clara University, but his early years as the child of illegal migrant farm wo
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Aug 27, 2011
Adriana
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Mar 08, 2011
Quincy
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The Circuit stories from the life of a migrant child by Francisco Jimenez is the story of how Francisco’s family came to America. His family illegally came to the United States and ended up working for a number of years in various fields as manual labor. The story touches on many key points I think teachers should be aware of when they are teaching students whose 1st language differs from their own. The language barrier is not only debilitating but it’s scary and frustrating. Fanscisco’s fir
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Apr 10, 2010
Sunday
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The content about life as migrant workers stands in stark contrast to the conditions described in Esperanza Rising. Living in barns. Living in shacks where they covered the floor with card board. Strapping the one family mattress to the top of the car every time they moved from one camp to another. The struggle to learn in just a few months of school every year and one missed opportunity after another. (from Amazon)
Pages I marked with unfamiliar cultural info -
Cantinflas - a m More...
Pages I marked with unfamiliar cultural info -
Cantinflas - a m More...
Jan 31, 2010
K.
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Picked this up from the library on a whim. On the back cover, one reviewer says: "A jewel of a book. The writing is full of sentiment, but not sentimentality. ...A must for the general reader, students, and professors alike. In brief, a joy to read."
Well, I have to disagree about the "joy" for the most part, some of it was very hard. But it was worth the glimpse into the life of an illegal-immigrant-migrant-worker family. The author really knew how to put it on t More...
Well, I have to disagree about the "joy" for the most part, some of it was very hard. But it was worth the glimpse into the life of an illegal-immigrant-migrant-worker family. The author really knew how to put it on t More...
Jul 18, 2009
Shirleen
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This book is an eye opener about the struggles that a Mexican migrant family goes through, seen through the eyes of a young boy. His family entered the US illegally through a hole in the border fence. The family struggled with severe poverty, language barriers in school and at work, and illness which could not be treated properly because of lack of money. They lived in shacks, worked in the fields picking fruit, and moved from place to place to find work. Their story is a story of triumph o
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Feb 17, 2009
Rebecca
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I loved this book so much it made me return to Goodreads after a long absence just because I wanted to tell people about it. I don't want to raise expectations too much because maybe not everyone would love it, but I do. It's an autobiographical novel written by Francisco Jimenez who is currently a professor at Santa Clara University but who was born in Mexico and came to California with his family as migrant farm laborers. It is poignant, moving, and eye-opening without being depressing. It aff
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May 24, 2011
Q_Jill
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This book is about a boy named Panchito and his family who migrate from one farm to the next in search of work picking cotton, strawberries and other crops. This is hard back-breaking work for little pay and the family is constantly on the move and living in poverty. The boy is constantly being uprooted from school and new found friends in order to make enough money to survive.
This book could lead to some great discussions with older students. I don't believe students today real More...
This book could lead to some great discussions with older students. I don't believe students today real More...
Jul 17, 2010
Holly
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I picked this book up at the book store in order to brush up on my Spanish. I found, however, not only did Cajas de Carton help me review my Spanish, more importantly, it improved my out look on life. After reading about the struggles of this undocumented immigrant family as they struggled to live in the U.S. and traveled from job to job to survive, I re-realized how blessed I have been.
The edition I read is in Spanish but it appears that it is available in English. I highly recom More...
The edition I read is in Spanish but it appears that it is available in English. I highly recom More...
Sep 24, 2011
Bryan
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Apr 23, 2011
Michelle
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A short book with a powerful punch. Francisco Jimenez has a PhD from Columbia and is currently a professor at Santa Clara. These are the stories of his childhood spent picking grapes, strawberries, and cotton in the fields of California. His family emigrated to the United States when he was a child and moved from place to place depending on what was ripe for picking at the time. In each new location, regardless of the time of year, he would enroll himself in the local school. After school a
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Jul 28, 2009
Jeslyn
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In all the years I've spent in Arizona, Virginia and California, "migrant workers" or "day workers" have been an ever-present part of the landscape. I never felt any particular prejudice against them, but often thought "that really isn't the most effective way to get work, how do they do it?"
This book really pulled back the veil on the lives of these families - the situation of being the child, the youth, the mother, and the father - and the struggle to surviv More...
This book really pulled back the veil on the lives of these families - the situation of being the child, the youth, the mother, and the father - and the struggle to surviv More...
Apr 08, 2009
Kristin
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I read this because our 7th grade English class reads it in their curriculum. It's about a Mexican boy and his family working, illegally, in the United States -- from farm to farm, barely making ends meet. I loved reading about the simplicity, yet hardship with his life and his love for school and love for learning! His life and family captured my heart and made me sympathize for the immigrants, who move here to live a better life. It's amazing to see the way this family and boy live, work l
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Aug 06, 2008
Chris
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A quick read assigned for my MAT program. It details the life of a child in a migrant family and all of the challenges that go along with that. Pretty good.
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Dec 15, 2010
Stacey
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I am reading this book because a former colleague of mine always recommended it. The book is a collection of short stories about the author's experience growing up as a migrant Mexican worker in California. Francisco's experiences are so different from my students', and that's what makes the stories so important to be read.
My favorite short story in the book was about Christmas. All Francisco wanted was a ball to play with. He didn't get because his family didn't have enough money f More...
My favorite short story in the book was about Christmas. All Francisco wanted was a ball to play with. He didn't get because his family didn't have enough money f More...
Jan 11, 2012
Julie
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Panchito and his family leave Mexico in search of a better life and future in California. The family move through a circuit of California towns—Santa Maria, Fresno, Corcoran—to pick strawberries, grapes, and cotton.
According to the Random House College Dictionary (1973), the word circuit can be defined as the “act of …moving around.” It is also defined as “a periodical journey around accustomed territory to perform certain duties.” Migrant farm workers move around a region performi More...
According to the Random House College Dictionary (1973), the word circuit can be defined as the “act of …moving around.” It is also defined as “a periodical journey around accustomed territory to perform certain duties.” Migrant farm workers move around a region performi More...
Nov 06, 2009
NS - Cami
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Gr 8 & Up- An audio book, Francisco Jimenez was born in Mexico, entered California illegally as a very young child, and spent his boyhood alternating between migrant farm work and the classroom. This collection of autobiographical short stories was written years later, when Jimenez had become an established professor at Santa Clara University (CA), but they give immediate access to the feelings of the growing boy. Adrian Vargas reads in a lightly accented English, offering a voice that is eviden
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Jan 07, 2012
Naseem
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My 11 year old son is reading this in school. He has been very moved by the stories of a Mexican family's illegal entry into the United States and the life they faced as migrant workers. Francisco, the younger son in the family, is the narrator of the story and his young eyes gave me a much keener appreciation for the difficulties of migrant life. A book like this could easily have become saccharine and manipulative. Jimenez's book was not, and I was glad that my son's teachers brought a book of
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Jun 28, 2011
Kinga
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The Circuit is a realistic fiction (with lots of autobiographical elements) based on experiences of a Mexican migrant boy and his family’s journey from Mexico to the United States. Jiménez writes about his suffering as a farm worker who spends days in the fields, his poor living conditions, his multicultural issues and how he is educated. He is surrounded by people who spoke English only when he could only understand Spanish. He and his family live in a community where illegal immigrants come to
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Dec 10, 2011
Adriana
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The reason why I choose to read The Circuit is because I live in a border town and I know people who went through the same thing as Francisco Jimenez. This book was about his childhood as a migrant child. His family lived in Mexico and dreamed of coming to California. His book talks about what his family though to get the freedom they have been wanting to badly. This book is the point of view of any migrants trying to get to America and what they would do to get here. If you ever want to unders
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Apr 19, 2011
Patricia
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Response: I thought that Jimenez’s story was very interesting and relevant to today. I am from a small town called Labelle, about an hour from Fort Myers, where a lot of migrant workers live. Many of my family members on my stepmother’s side are migrants and work in the fields and groves of Labelle and surrounding areas, so this book was very applicable to me. I think that this would be a great book for our school children considering the amount of immigrants we have in Florida.
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Feb 08, 2012
May
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I read this book in two days because I was going to see Francisco Jimenez on Tuesday night. This is a great child's book, telling the personal side of illegal immigration from a child's point of view. The lanugauge is very simple (hence the two day read time), and is similar to The House on Mango Street in terms of literary difficulty and vignette format. This is the kind of perspective that young children need so that they can see how drastically different a child like themselves can live, th
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Feb 10, 2011
Leane
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An engaging, real-life series of short stories about a Mexican boy and his family as they spend their years traveling throughout California to find work as farmers. The turn of the seasons calls for harvesters and their families to move from place to place, and we travel alongside the narrator and his family as they go. In addition, we watch the family grow and our narrator go from being a boy too small to pick cotton with his family to a confident young man who longs to speak English fluently
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Jun 16, 2009
Mensur
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The Circuit
by Francisco Jimenez
134 pages
Scholastic Inc.
ISBN 0-439-18896-2
$5.99
The Circuit by Francisco Jimenez is about a big famly crossing the border to have a better life. They have to leave everything behind because they want to change. As the season changes, they move from place to place looking for a field where thay can pick strawberies, grapes, and cotton. When Panchito, the main character, goes to school, he has a hard time learning English. He More...
by Francisco Jimenez
134 pages
Scholastic Inc.
ISBN 0-439-18896-2
$5.99
The Circuit by Francisco Jimenez is about a big famly crossing the border to have a better life. They have to leave everything behind because they want to change. As the season changes, they move from place to place looking for a field where thay can pick strawberies, grapes, and cotton. When Panchito, the main character, goes to school, he has a hard time learning English. He More...
Oct 29, 2008
Bryand
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The Circuit is about a big famly crossing the border to have a better life. They have to leave everything and in the story the main character is Panchito. He has to work in the fields picking cotton with his mom, dad and Roberto his older brother. Sometimes mom has to stay home and take care of the kids, Trampita, Torito, Ruben, and Rorra.One time when Torito was born, he had a chance to die of a sickness but he survives. As the season changes, they move from place to place looking for a field w
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Apr 22, 2009
Lisa
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Powerful, simply-written stories vividly portray the difficult life of a migrant family. The book begins with the story of Pancho's family's immigration to California when he is a very young child, and ends heart-breakingly as Pancho is about to recite the beginning of the Declaration of Independence for his middle school class. Pancho's simple, non-judgmental telling of his family's experiences in these brief stories gives the reader a clear picture of the challenges faced by migrant families.
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Jan 27, 2012
Deb
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Jimenez recounts stories from his migrant youth. I cannot fathom how to endure moving every few months farm to farm as the crops change and never getting a full year of school. This and others in the series seem quite popular in the library. I think he is an inspiration to Latino families. This book ends on a cliffhanger so I'm hoping the next collection of stories answers those questions left, and also hopefully explain how is able to escape the fields and go onto higher education.
May 12, 2010
Sally
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I was fortunate to have the opportunity to attend an event with Francisco Jimenez at Chabot College, as part of the East Bay Big Read in April 2010, and to learn about Jimenez's series of autobiographical stories. I've read about half of the stories in The Circuit so far, and can't wait to finish the rest, and then move on to Breaking Through and Reaching Out. Beautiful stories that should be required reading for everyone living in California, to understand the experience of children growing up
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Nov 12, 2011
Morgan
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This was a truly heartbreaking story of a migrant child's experiences in America. Panchito, the protagonist, lived in fear of the Border Patrol, and the back-breaking labor he had to do at a very young age were at times difficult to read. Perhaps worst of all is the knowledge that the experiences have not really changed much since the 30s and 40s--many migrant children are still treated poorly, marginalized by society, and, through no fault of their own, uneducated. That Francisco Jimenez, th
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