Jessie de la Cruz: A Profile of a United Farm Worker [Paperback]

Gary Soto (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2002 | Series: Karen and Michael Braziller Books

The acclaimed young adult biography of the UFW's first female organizer.

This inspiring story of Jessie De La Cruz, the United Farmer Workers, and la Causa is told as only Gary Soto—novelist, essayist, poet, and himself a field laborer during his teens—can tell it, with respect, empathy, and deep compassion for the working poor.

A field worker from the age of five, Jessie knew poverty, harsh working conditions, and the exploitation of Mexicans and all poor people. Her response was to take a stand. She joined the fledgling United Farm Workers union and, at Cesar Chavez's request, became its first woman recruiter. She also participated in strikes, helped ban the crippling short-handle hoe, became a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, testified before the Senate, and met with the Pope.

Jessie's life story personalizes an historical movement and shows teens how an ordinary woman became extraordinary through her will to make change happen, not just for herself but for others.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Gr 6 Up-C‚sar Ch vez may have led the La Causa movement, but it was due to the tenacity of supporters like Jessie de la Cruz that the cause received national attention and influenced labor laws. Soto met de la Cruz, now in her 80s, at a 1998 gathering of the California Rural Assistance League and shortly after began interviewing her. Through her stories of her life as a child laborer, a young mother working under grueling conditions in the fields, a union organizer, and eventually a small farm owner, Soto illuminates the plight of migrant workers from the 1920s to today and the history of the La Causa movement. Told in simple prose that rings with the lilt of a Spanish accent, he covers the work of de la Cruz and her husband. They spent half a century persuading fellow farm workers to stand up for themselves, negotiating and leading strikes, and accompanying Ch vez on the heroic 250-mile march from the lower end of the Great Central Valley to Sacramento. Ch vez comes to life in the book as well, as a friend, a worker, and a tenacious thorn in the collective conscience of the country. Several pages of black-and-white photographs are included. While unapologetically devoted to his subject, the author effectively personalizes the struggle of farmworkers in a manner that will enable students to understand and care about their triumphs.-Mary R. Hofmann, Rivera Middle School, Merced, CA

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Gr. 7-12. From the age of five in the 1920s, Jessie De La Cruz worked the fields in the San Joaquin Valley in California with her migrant family, sleeping in tents and scavenging for food, with no respite from the backbreaking labor. Now, Chicano writer Soto (who worked in the fields in high school and college) has written her biography, based on personal interviews. It's a story of her daily work over six decades and also of her role as a United Farm Worker organizer. The writing style is undistinguished, not Soto at his best, but teens will be caught by the facts of her hardship and struggle. The biography weaves together one brave woman's life and the political history of the farm-worker movement. From the Depression to the grape boycott to the farmworkers' fight to own some of the land they work, this is stirring American history. A central photo insert shows De La Cruz in the fields, on the marches, at her wedding. Appended is her moving Congressional testimony that says it in her own words. Give this to fans of Francisco Jimenez's The Circuit (1997). Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Persea (October 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0892552859
• ISBN-13: 978-0892552856
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #514,771 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #20 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Authors & Illustrators, A-Z > ( S ) > Soto, Gary

More About the Author

Born in Fresno, California to Mexican American parents, Gary Soto learned the hard work ethic through his share of chores, including mowing lawns, picking grapes, painting house numbers on street curbs, and washing cars. His hard work paid off at California State University at Fresno, from which he graduated with an English degree, and later at the University of California at Irvine, where he earned a Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing.Gary Soto is an acclaimed poet, essayist, and fiction writer. The awards for this multi-talented author are many, ranging from the U.S. Award for International Poetry Forum in 1977 for his first published book of poetry, The Elements of San Joaquin, to a Before Columbus Foundation American Book Award in 1985 for Living Up the Street, his first published work of prose recollections. His short story collection Baseball in April, was named an American Library Association's Best Book for Young Adults. In 1993 Gary Soto received the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Children's Video for Pool Party, and in 1995 he was nominated for a National Book Award.His other credits include fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the California Arts Council. Gary Soto is also one of the youngest poets to appear in the Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry. Several of his books have been translated into French, Spanish and Italian.Too Many Tamales was named a Booklist Books for Youth Editors' Choices of 1993. Hazel Rochman of Booklist said, "Gary Soto is an accomplished poet and adult writer, and his children's stories are widely popular. His first entry into the picture book genre is a joyful success."When he is not writing, Mr. Soto serves as a volunteer English teacher at his church. He also enjoys eating at new restaurants, which he does often with his wife, Carolyn, and their daughter Mariko. Other members of the Soto household include their two cats, Corky and Sharkie. The Soto family resides in Berkeley, California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eloquently written biography of an amazing, strong woman!, January 13, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Jessie de La Cruz: A Profile of a United Farm Worker (Hardcover)

This is an outstanding portrayal of an amazing woman, why have we never heard of her before? Soto does an outstanding job of tracing Jessie's life and realistically tracing her accomplishments and triumphs as well as her set backs and disappointments. How can anyone do so much in so little time? We always hear of Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, yet this woman has never come into view. Now we can read all about her, thanks to Soto. This will be a best seller for sure. I think it is written for school age students but as an adult I marveled at its quality. Soto gives her the respect she deserves.

5.0 out of 5 stars one of the best book, July 31, 2003

By 

Gabby Ayala (Five Points, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jessie de la Cruz: A Profile of a United Farm Worker (Paperback)

I like the book because it was very interesting for me. It reminded me of my parents who work in the fields. How they come home hungry, tire and dirty. When my family and I came here we didn't had anything any family who could help us out. My family suffered a lot. When I was reading the book I got into it because the same reason I felt like there were talking about my family. In the end it got more interesting because Jessie talk about her life how she helped Cesar Chavez. I think they did a lot for all Mexicans people. I enjoyed reading the book.