How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"When can we start work?" Papá asked, rubbing his hands.
"In two weeks," the foreman answered.
"That can't be!" Papá exclaimed, shaking his head. "We were told we'd find work right away."
"I am sorry, the strawberries won't be ready to pick until then," the foreman responded, shrugging his shoulders and walking away. (1.26-29)
Right off the bat, we learn that time is going to be super important in this book. Because Francisco's family works in fields picking strawberries, grapes, and cotton, their work schedule is governed by the seasons—and that means that the time of year makes a huge difference for what kind of work they can do. Or whether they can find work at all. So when they first arrive in California and the strawberries aren't ready to be harvested, they have to wait to start their new jobs. Keep an eye out for other moments where the seasons dictate their work schedules.
Quote #2
It was late January and we had just returned a week before, from Corcoran, where my family picked cotton. We settled in Tent City, a labor camp owned by Sheehey Strawberry Farms located about ten miles east of Santa Maria. (3.4)
Even just a couple chapters into this book, we can already tell that Francisco and his family are going to move around a lot. Scratch that: sometimes it feels like they're moving all the time. And since they're traveling to places depending on the crops that are grown, they don't always have a choice about where to go. So when it's time for cotton, his family heads to Corcoran, and when it's strawberry season in Santa Maria, that's where Francisco's family goes.
Quote #3
To make ends meet, Mamá cooked for twenty farm workers who lived in Tent City. She made their lunches and had supper ready for them when they returned from picking strawberries at the end of the day. She would get up at four o'clock every morning, seven days a week, to make the tortillas for both meals. On weekends and all during the summer, Roberto and I helped her. Once Papá left for work, Roberto rolled the tacos while I wrapped them in wax paper and put them in lunch bags. At eleven-thirty, Roberto carried the twenty lunches in a box and delivered them, on foot, to the workers, who were given half an hour for lunch. When he returned, he and I washed dishes in a large aluminum tub. We then took care of our younger brother, Trampita, while Mamá took a nap. Around three o'clock she would start cooking dinner, which was served from six to seven. After supper, Roberto and I again cleaned the pots and washed dishes while Mamá fed Trampita. On Saturdays, she did all of the grocery shopping for the week. Because we did not have an icebox, Papá made one. Every three days, he went into town to buy a large block of ice, which he wrapped in burlap and placed inside a hole he dug in the ground by the entrance to our tent. The hole was twice as large as the block of ice, leaving room on all four sides and on top for things to be kept cold. (4.4)
It's not just the time of year that's important for Francisco's family, it's the time of day, too. When Francisco and Roberto aren't in school, they've got a seriously packed schedule, just like their parents. Check out how each family member uses every minute in every day. There's no wasting time around here.
Quote #4
It always rained a lot in Corcoran during the cotton season, but that year it rained more than usual. No sooner had we arrived from Fowler, where we had picked grapes, than it started to pour. […]
There was not a lot to do when it rained. (5.1-2)
Since the time of year impacts when plants are ready to be harvested, it also impacts whether Francisco's family can work at all. And when it's raining they get a free pass from work. This might sound pretty cool at first, but it also means they don't get paid, which is kind of scary. Francisco and his family have to find a way to stay busy when it's pouring cats and dogs outside, and cross their fingers that they can work again soon.
Quote #5
When I heard Papá say "we're broke too," I panicked. My hope for getting a ball of my own that Christmas faded—but only for a second. "It can't be like last year," I told myself. (6.5)
Francisco is a seriously hopeful kid. He has faith things will change from one year to the next, which is pretty cool—and since he figures that life will only get better over time, he has high hopes that this Christmas he'll get a cooler gift than last year. Even though Francisco ends up being disappointed (bye-bye ball, hello bag of candy), we've got to give him props for hoping that time can change all things for the better.
Quote #6
He had been in a terrible mood the last few days because he was not sure where we would work, now that the grape season was almost over. (7.5)
For Papá, the changing seasons can be seriously stressful. It his job to find the family new places to work, so when work is scarce and it's time to make a change, he's in a rough spot. Do you think Francisco's tone shows empathy for his pops? Or does Francisco not get how big of a deal the end of the grape season is?
Quote #7
In the latter part of October, after the grape season was over, we left Mr. Jacobson's vineyards in Fresno and headed for Corcoran to pick cotton. As we drove down the narrow, two-lane road, we passed vineyard after vineyard. Stripped of their grapes, the vines were now draped in yellow, orange, and brown leaves. Within a couple of hours, the vineyards gave way to cotton fields. On both sides of the road we were surrounded by miles and miles of cotton plants. I knew that we were approaching Corcoran. (8.1)
Okay, we know the seasons can be scary and all that, but here the changing seasons also sound kind of pretty. This setting tells us a lot about how one season ends and another begins. Right after Francisco and his family pass all the empty grape vines, they spot cotton plants ready to be harvested—and that means lots of work. Do you think the impending hard work makes the changing seasons less pretty, or is it a good thing because his family will have work? Can the seasons be both scary and appealing?
Quote #8
On both sides of the road we passed endless fields of harvested cotton plants. From their dry branches dangled cotton fibers left during the first picking. They were frozen from the cold. In the distance ahead of us, Papá spotted a white speck and a cloud of thick black some. […]
I took my hands out of my pockets and started picking and piling the cotton in the furrow. Within seconds my toes were numb and I could hardly move my fingers. My hands were turning red and purple. (8.31, 33)
Just in case we needed a reminder of why time matters in farming, here it is: once it's too cold, not only are the plants frozen, but the workers are too. Here it's so cold that Francisco can't even get the job done, even though he tries really hard.
Quote #9
It was that time of year again. Ito, the strawberry sharecropper, did not smile. It was natural. The peak of the strawberry season was over, and in the last few days the workers, most of them, braceros, were not picking as many boxes as they had during June and July. […]
When the sun had tired and sunk behind the mountains, Ito signaled us that it was time to go home. "Ya esora," he yelled in his broken Spanish. Those were the words I waited for twelve hours a day, every day, seven days a week, week after week. And the thought of not hearing them again saddened me. […]
Yes, it was that time of year. When I opened the front door to the shack, I stopped. Everything we owned was neatly packed in cardboard boxes. Suddenly I felt even more the weight of hours, days, weeks, and months of work. I sat down on a box. The thought of having to move to Fresno and knowing what was in store for me there brought tears to my eyes. (9.1, 3, 5)
Wow—the changes here seem pretty inevitable. It's almost like Francisco has gotten really used to this way of moving through time and he's not even going to try to escape it. And since he says he want to cry, we're getting the impression that he's not too thrilled about how the seasons keep changing up his life. Is there anything to look forward to in these changes, or are the changing seasons bad news all around?
Quote #10
The following morning, before going to work, Mamá and I covered my note pad with waxed paper to keep it clean. I then marked the spelling rules I wanted to memorize that day. As I picked grapes, I went over them in my mind, looking at my notes only when I had to. This made the time go by faster. (11.58)
Sometimes Francisco wants time to move slow as can be, like when he's enjoying school or spending time with his friends. But other times he wants time to speed up. When it comes to working in the fields, he finds one way to make time fly by: work on school at the same time.