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

by Gary Soto

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780892552856
Publisher:	Persea Books
Publication date:	10/17/2002
Series:	Karen and Michael Braziller Books
Edition description:	1ST
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	960L (what's this?)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Gary Soto, author of books for children, young adults, and adults, lives in Berkeley, California. His best-selling fiction includes Baseball in April and Buried Onions.

Table of Contents

	Preface	ix
	Map of California	2
Chapter 1	Hurtful Beginnings	3
Chapter 2	Between the Rows	18
Chapter 3	Family of Her Own	29
Chapter 4	Hearing the Call of la Causa	42
Chapter 5	Speaking Out	66
Chapter 6	For the People	77
Chapter 7	A Farm of Their Own	83
Chapter 8	Jessie Today	99
Appendix	Will the Family Farm Survive in America? Congressional Testimony of Jessie De La Cruz	105
	Bibliography and Acknowledgments	114
	Index	115

What People are Saying About This

Studs Terkel

I was so deeply moved by this portrait of a true American heroine.

Editorial Reviews

I was so deeply moved by this portrait of a true American heroine.

Studs Terkel

Gr 6 Up-Cesar Chavez 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 Chavez on the heroic 250-mile march from the lower end of the Great Central Valley to Sacramento. Chavez 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 2002 Cahners Business Information.

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