The Circuit

            Pancho, am a young boy who i live with my  family in a small pueblito in Mexico called El Rancho Blanco. My  families dreams about living in a place where Papa will earn good money and we can live in a house with electricity and running water. Papa decides that we will all cross la frontera, the border between Mexico and California, so that we can have a better life. We find this really difficult to go to california together. The train is loud and noisy and the ride lasts for several days.
            Eventually we reach la frontera which Pancho is surprised to find is “no more than a gray wire fence where there were armed guards.”  When we got to California we didn't imagine it like this would be like. My parents and my big brother Roberto work all day in the strawberry fields while am with my two younger brothers trampita and torito. When strawberries are out of season, we have to move and find work in other fields. Instead of a house with plush carpet, we live in a tent. In between work, i find time to be friends with a boy name Miguel. Sadly, i  lost Miguelito, because he has to move away from Tent City because his family needs to earn more money.
           Nothing is permanent when you live in Tent City. Soon, i started school. I find school difficult because i really dont understand English. But school does have its benefits. I excels during art time. Inspired by the classroom caterpillar,I draw a beautiful picture of a butterfly.
           One cold day, Miss Scalapino discovers that i don’t have a coat. The principal, Mr. Sims, gives me a jacket from the “Lost and Found.” However, it turns out that the coat belongs to Curtis, the biggest and most popular kid in class.Curtis wants the jacket back, but because i don’t speak English, i don’t understand what Curtis is saying. Me and curtis start to fight. I was embarrassed after the fight and i stop participating in class. I don’t realize that the other kids think i was brave for standing up to Curtis until his friend, Arthur, tells him so.
           Soon, i was more comfortable in class and start to understand more and more English. One day, Miss Scalapino announces that my picture of the butterfly has won first prize at a children’s art exhibit. Later that afternoon, I notice that the class caterpillar is breaking out of its cocoon. I open the jar and everyone watches the butterfly fly away. After school, Curtis asks if he can see my picture. Curtis tells me that am a good artist. I gives Curtis the picture as a sign of friendship.

          Suddenly, immigration guards arrive at my school. Mr. Sims announces that me and my family are being deported back to Mexico. So i had to go back to mexico because i wasn't born in california. Atleast i had a chance to learn atleast english. So now that am back in mexico i can't go back to california or else i would go through all the things all over again to ba able to go to califronia.

Fransico Jimenez when he was a little boy.

Francisco Jimenez

He was born in Tlaquepaque, Mexico, in 1943, Francisco Jiménez grew up in a family of migrant workers in California. He spent much of his childhood moving around California with no permanent home or regular schooling, yet he went on to have a distinguished academic career. He graduate of Santa Clara University, he also attended Harvard University and received both a Master's Degree and Ph.D. from Columbia University. He went on to become chairman of the Modern Languages and Literatures Department at Santa Clara University, as well as director of the Division of Arts and Humanities there, and has been director of the Mexico Summer Study Program at Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. Long a writer of academic works for adults, Jiménez's entry into writing for young people came through an award-winning short story, “The Circuit,” based on his childhood. In 1997, Jiménez combined the story with others into the autobiographical volume The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child, which won numerous awards, including the Americas Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature. He followed this achievement with the picture book La Mariposa, another autobiographical work that looks at the difficulties faced by a non-English-speaking child in an English-speaking classroom. His exploration of the melding or memoir and fiction continued with The Christmas Gift/El regalo de Navidad, a bilingual illustrated book about the sources of humanity and strength that exist even in the face of poverty. His newest book is Breaking Through, his award-winning sequel to The Circuit.His primary goal in writing both scholarly and creative works is to fill the need for cultural and human understanding, between the United States and Mexico in particular, writer and professor Francisco Jiménez once commented. He has taken a major step towards this goal with his autobiographical collection The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child. This award-winning book provides young readers with an intimate portrait of life growing up in a Mexican American migrant family. In depicting both the hardships and the hopes of Mexicans who move through California in search of work, The Circuit "fills a void in novels for young people," a New Advocate reviewer stated. Jiménez was born in Mexico in 1943, the second child in a family that would eventually include nine children. When he was just four, he and his older brother Roberto entered the United States with his parents, who were seeking to escape the poverty of their small Mexican village.Some of the books that he wrote were: The Circuit, Breakin Through, Cajas de Carton, Reaching Out, La Mariposa, and Mariposa.

Dear Ms.Vallejo

You should read this book because it talks about how a boy name Panchito talks about what he live his life passing the boarder. He had gone thru a lot of pain because they didn't have enough money, job or a place to be. For example when Panchito was with his brothers in the car while his parents had to go to work with his older brother Roberto. They had to pick up cotton and strawberries. While Panchito was teking care of Trampitas his younger brother and Torito his other younger brother. Panchito's mom wakes up so early to make breakfast for the workers and for her family. This book is really intresting to read because for the people that don't now how people cross the boarder and how he live to come to california. Many of the people that don't like reading that much they could choose this book becauseit shows how people hot to live crossing the boarders to california. If you are from mexico you only have to cross one boarder to go to california. Usually if your not from mexico you cross two to four boarders to come to california. When i read this book i though it was kind of interesting but when i finished this book i was so suprise that i wanted to read more books like this one. During the book i would imagine how my parents how to live their life in mexico and that they had to cross the boarder to come to california. i would recomand to the people that would like to now some things about mexico and how people cross the boarders. But if you are not from maxico like if your from el salvador than you have to cross two boarders to go to california. If you are guatemalen you have to cross three borders to go to california. Lastly, if you are from Honduras you have to cross four borders in order to go to california. its really sad that this three countries have to cross two to three boarders to be able to go to california. When they come here to california they change because here is really different than their countries.I really wan't people to read atleast this book so that they could understand how their parents had a worst life and we as kids can have a better future than our parents did. Many of the kids don't understand what their parents how to live their life. In this book a youn boy had to see how his parnets and his older brother Roberto had to work in order toearn money so that they can be able to live to ba able to go to california. I would be happy if you read this book because its really intresting to read mostly when its about the borders that people had to cross to go to california.
                                                                                                             Sincerly,
                                                                                                         Yalitza Ramirez

test taking strategies

  My plan to be able to get ready for the benchmark is to review. i had to review for all of the subject that i had first then the next 2 subject the next day. I would practice math problems for the algebra 1 benchmark.Then i would rest for a little while and then go back to reviewing. I would review math english first before history and science.
  Then the next day i would review for the science and history. After i review those two subjects i would ask my big brother to quiz me to see witch one i now and witch one i don't now. I would practice more for the math benchmark to able to be prepared for the algebra 1 benchmark. For the english i would review my notes. then go to sleep earlie to be ready to take the benchmarks the next day.

• make flashcards
• review notes
• benchmark releaste test questions
• practice
• have good rest