Strike!: The Farm Workers' Fight for Their Rights - Hardcover

Brimner, Larry Dane

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1590789970 ISBN 13: 9781590789971

Publisher: Calkins Creek, 2014

Synopsis

In 1965, as the grapes in California’s Coachella Valley were ready to harvest, migrant Filipino American workers who picked and readied the crop for shipping negotiated a wage of $1.40 per hour, the same wage growers had agreed to pay guest workers from Mexico. But when the Filipino grape pickers moved north to Delano, in the Central Valley, and again asked for $1.40 an hour, the growers refused. The ensuing conflict set off one of the longest and most successful strikes in American history. In Strike!, award-winning author Larry Dane Brimner dramatically captures that story. Brimner, a master researcher, fills this riveting account of the strike and its aftermath with the words of migrant workers, union organizers, and grape growers, as well as archival images that capture that first strike in 1965 and the ones that subsequently followed. Includes an author’s note, bibliography, and source notes.

About this title

About the Author:

Larry Dane Brimner is the recipient of the 2018 Robert F. Sibert Award for the most distinguished informational book for children for his title Twelve Days in May: Freedom Ride 1961. He is known for his well-researched, innovative, and award-winning nonfiction for young readers, and is the author of multiple acclaimed civil rights titles, including Strike!: The Farm Workers' Fight for Their Rights; and Black & White: The Confrontation between Reverend Fred L. Shuttlesworth and Eugene "Bull" Connor.

Review:

* "While a number of books celebrating Cesar Chavez are available for younger children, few titles provide more in-depth coverage for olders readers. This informative volume offers a detailed, nuanced discussion of the man and the California agricultural workers' movement . . . Well researched, well sourced, and clearly written, this book is an excellent resource for young people." --Booklist, starred review

* "A skillful, compelling account of the complicated history of Cesar Chavez and the farm workers movement, set in the context of the social and political tensions of the times . . . With an appealing design and many black-and-white photographs, this paints a vivid, detailed picture of an important labor movement and its controversial yet inspiring leader." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review

* "Brimner's comprehensive history of the United Farm Workers (UFW) begins not with Cesar Chavez but with the action of a group of Filipino farm workers who walked off the California fields in 1965. He combines the little-known story of the Filipino workers, a significant segment of migrant farm workers, with that of Chavez and the Hispanic workers, whose actions have received far more attention . . . Brimner's inclusion of information about the Filipino workers who began the movement, quotes and balanced discussion of Chavez's strengths and weaknesses provides a fresh perspective on the movement, making this book a first-purchase choice for middle-level researchers." --School Library Journal, starred review

" . . . Brimner's compelling narrative, complete with both textual and visual primary sources, is up to the task. The layout is inviting with swatches of green and purple to complement the dominant black-and-white color scheme and well-placed maps and photos, while brief Spanish translations of selected quotes, titles, and epigraphs are incorporated . . . " --The Horn Book Magazine

About this edition

• Publisher: Calkins Creek
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1590789970
• ISBN 13: 9781590789971
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 172