DeFelice, Cynthia. Under the same sky.Farrar, Straus & Giroux Farrar, Straus & Giroux Publishing company in New York City noted for its literary excellence. It was founded in 1945 by John Farrar and Roger Straus as Farrar, Straus & Co. . 224p. c2003. 0-374-38032-5. $16.00. J Joe longs for a motorbike for his 14th birthday, but his father says he needs to earn the money for it. So Joe agrees to go to work with the crew of Mexican laborers who travel to his father's New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of farm each summer. At first, he resents the responsible crew boss, Manuel, who is only 16, because Manuel has his father's respect in a way Joe doesn't. Joe also finds the work of planting cabbages, weeding, hoeing, and picking strawberries terribly difficult and utterly exhausting. Gradually, however, he comes to appreciate the workers and to understand that they are responsible for earning money to support families back home. He develops a crush on beautiful Louisa, a fellow crewmember and Manuel's cousin, and he grows angry at the anti-Mexican sentiment Anti-Mexican sentiment refers to hostility or fear against Mexico, people of Mexican citizenship or descent, or Mexican culture. Hostility against Mexican-Americans Throughout U.S. history, Mexican Americans have endured negative stereotypes among the American people. , and dangerous taunting, displayed by some in his township and even by some of his friends. When the migra--the INS--shows up, Joe helps to keep Louisa and two other crewmembers who are illegal immigrants illegal immigrant n. an alien (non-citizen) who has entered the United States without government permission or stayed beyond the termination date of a visa. (See: alien) from being found and arrested, at considerable risk to himself, and his newly mature behavior helps to earn his father's long-sought respect, even though Joe has gone against the law. This look at migrant workers A migrant worker is someone who regularly works away from home, if they even have a home.[] Although the United Nations' use of this term overlaps with 'foreign worker', the use of the term within the United States is more specific. carefully lays out many of the issues involved, including the conflicts inherent in the immigration laws immigration laws npl → leyes fpl de inmigración immigration laws npl → lois fpl sur l'immigration immigration laws npl , and readers will come away with a new understanding and sympathy for these workers. This is a moving tale, with a valuable message, by the talented author of the historical YA novels The Apprenticeship of Lucas Whitaker and Nowhere to Call Home. |
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