AuthorandBookExploration

Author and Book Exploration
 * 1) The author is Francisco Jimenez. He immigrated from Mexico with his family to the United States when he was four years old. As a child, he worked in the fields of California, struggling for an education and with the English language. He received a bachelor’s degree in Spanish at Santa Clara University and a master’s and a PhD from Columbia University. He is a professor of Modern Language and Literatures and director of the ethnic studies program at Santa Clara University in California. He is married and has three grown children.
 * 2)  Jimenez began to write after entering the educational field because he seldom saw anything in the curriculum in his own educational experience to which he could relate. The author has also written __The Christmas Gift__, __The Circuit__, __La Mariposa__, and __Reaching Out__, and has won numerous awards including a Smithsonian Notable Book, an American Library Associate notable Book, Pura Belpre Honor Award, and 2002 Tomas Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book award.
 * 3)  Jimenez wrote this book as a second in an autobiographical series, the first being __The Circuit.__ It deals with the deportation of he and his family back to Mexico. He wrote the sequel to honor his family, document his history and voice the experiences of young people who confront obstacles in their efforts to break through.
 * 4)  The book was published in 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company in Boston. It is a sequel to __The Circuit__, published in 1999 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
 * 5)  Professional critics and reviews found the book to be “groundbreaking” in its drama of a Mexican immigrant, with powerful, moving images. Critics hail it as a “coming of age” book about family, work, faith and “respecto.” The book was reviewed by, among others, Booklist Editors, The Horn Book Magazine, San Francisco Chronicle, and Bulletin.
 * 6)  Readers of the books on the Barnes and Noble website find it a heart-warming story, interesting enjoyable and even unforgettable.
 * 7)  I could not find any “controversies” about the book, just comments about its lack of intensity compared to __The Circuit__.