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careinthelibrary's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.0
This taught me about a piece of forgotten American labour history and made me appreciate all the more the power of workers and the rights they've fought so hard for.
I love that this encourages kids to be interested in and aware of human rights and the fact that we have to fight for them to be recognized and progressed. And that BIPOC are too often left to fight for half of what white workers are afforded.
That being said, I did think that because the author gives so much space to develop the historical setting and conversation, it left something to be wanted in the actual narrative. The characters felt less developed than I would have liked and the story didn't go as far as I'd like outside of just historical events. If there had been more of an emphasis on the personal struggles, not just the political of the main characters, I'd have liked this even more.
But as it stands, this is still a heartfelt, emotional, informative middle grade novel-in-verse.
This pairs really well with a recent documentary I watched called <i>Invisible Valley</i> which in part tells the story of Coachella Valley's migrant farm workers and the lack of PPE and wage security they have.
I love that this encourages kids to be interested in and aware of human rights and the fact that we have to fight for them to be recognized and progressed. And that BIPOC are too often left to fight for half of what white workers are afforded.
That being said, I did think that because the author gives so much space to develop the historical setting and conversation, it left something to be wanted in the actual narrative. The characters felt less developed than I would have liked and the story didn't go as far as I'd like outside of just historical events. If there had been more of an emphasis on the personal struggles, not just the political of the main characters, I'd have liked this even more.
But as it stands, this is still a heartfelt, emotional, informative middle grade novel-in-verse.
This pairs really well with a recent documentary I watched called <i>Invisible Valley</i> which in part tells the story of Coachella Valley's migrant farm workers and the lack of PPE and wage security they have.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pedophilia, Chronic illness, Classism, Physical abuse, Medical content, Racial slurs, Racism, and Xenophobia
Labour exploitation, child labour, unsafe working conditions
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