AuthorAndBookExploration

Nathan Gitter Gitter 1 English 8-4 10-31-08 //Breaking Through// Author and Book Exploration 1. The author of //Breaking Through// is Francisco Jimenez. He was born in Tlaquepaque Mexico in 1943. Growing up, he lived in a family of migrant workers in California who moved from place to place to find work. Because of this, he went to school in many places throughout the state of California. His life as a child was tough; he had to work in many different fields picking and planting crops. Now, he lives in California and is a school teacher. He enjoys reading, listening to music (especially rock and roll), dancing, and traveling. 2. Francisco Jimenez started writing in 1997 with his first book //The Circuit//. Besides being a writer, Jimenez is a professor at Santa Clara University in California. He has written numerous books including //The Circuit//, //Breaking Through//, //Teen-age//, and //La Mariposa//. Some of the special Awards he has received are a Booklist Editor’s Choice, the Boston Globe Horn Book Award for Fiction, the Americas Award, a Jane Addams Honor Book Award, an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults, and the FOCAL Award. 3. The author, Francisco Jimenez, wrote //Breaking Through// to communicate the story of his life as a migrant worker to the reader. As a child, he was a migrant worker in California just like Panchito in the story. He wanted to communicate that this is a style of life for some people, and he was one of them. Jimenez felt he should share his story and the stories of his family. 4. //Breaking Through// is published by Houghton Mifflin in 2001. It was also published in a Spanish version in 2003. It is a sequel to the book //The Circuit//. Gitter 2 5. Professional critics say that //Breaking Through// really communicates the impact of growing up in a poor community. Hazel Rochman said that “many readers … may discover an America that they didn’t know was there.” Almost all of the reviews recommended this book to middle school classes. 6. Most readers thought that //Breaking Through// was a great book that was a satisfying sequel to //The Circuit//. A costumer from Amazon.com said that the book is “an excellent follow-up for those of us hungering for more after //The Circuit//.” Many readers enjoyed the book and recommend it to others. 7. In //Breaking Through//, there is some controversy over the subject matter. In this book, Panchito is picked on because he is Mexican. As a result, some people are offended by people being negative towards certain races. This book shows what some people think of Mexicans, but some people don’t like that. __Works Cited__ "Breaking Through." __Amazon.com__. Amazon.com. 30 Oct 2008 . "Dr, Francisco Jimenez." __Santa Clara University__. Santa Clara University. 30 Oct 2008 . "Francisco Jimenez." __Scholastic__. Scholastic. 30 Oct 2008 . "Selected Reviews of "Breaking Through"." __Santa Clara University__. Santa Clara Univer sity. 30 Oct 2008 .