Latino Migrant Workers : America's Harvesters

Children's Literature

If you pick up a piece of fruit or prepare a salad to eat, you are probably consuming a food article harvested by a migrant farm worker. Many of the more than one million migrant farm workers in the United States are of Hispanic origin. The life of migrant farm workers represents one of the most economically depressed existences in the US. Migrant farm workers face long days, few holidays, low pay, limited- to no benefits, and dangerous working conditions. This is a difficult life but one that many Hispanics have chosen to earn a living or send money home to their families. In this volume of the "Hispanic Heritage" series Christopher Hovius presents a well-researched account of the history and contemporary life of migrant farm workers. This illustrated book does an excellent job of depicting the daily life of these hard working and underprivileged people. Readers will come away from this social studies text with a better understanding of the challenges faced by adults and children who serve as migrant farm workers. 2006, Mason Crest Publishers, Ages 12 up.
—Greg M. Romaneck