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file:///private/Network/Servers/macserver.communitydayblackbaud.local/smaystein/Desktop/reaching-out.jpg" alt="" />Reaching Out by Francisco Jimenez is a continuation of his autobiography that began with The Circuit, one of my favorite books. file:///private/Network/Servers/macserver.communitydayblackbaud.local/smaystein/Desktop/reaching-out.jpg" />The Circuit tells of Jimenez's early childhood as the child of a migrant family of illegal Mexican immigrants. Jimenez (called Panchito by his family) lives in poverty in America that is unconsidered by the middle and upper classes (and I would bet, by the poor as well.) When crops in California failed or had been picked entirely, Jimenez's family would eat from trash cans behind grocery stores and found baby clothes at the dump. They lived without electricity, running water, dentists or doctors. This book, while being very gently written by a man who seems to be a pure-hearted soul, is revolutionary to the person who loves justice. It will make your blood boil. When Panchito's baby brother becomes ill, his family can not seek medical help because their wages are such that they can't afford it. The baby lingers agonizingly close to death and the family can only pray. I love my country, but I don't love the system that exploits workers like Jimenez and his family, taking their back-breaking labor and keeping them virtual slaves while claiming to be the "home of the free." As a California native, this story has particular resonance, as the fields and fields of strawberries and lettuce which supply America with fruits and vegetables, and in which so many children like Jimenez must work, remain in my mind as just so much childhood scenery. In Reaching Out, Jimenez goes to college from the ramshackle, sagging hut he and his family share. His entire family rides in the ancient, back-firing old car they used to follow the crops to Santa Clara University, which Jimenez was attending because of hard work and scholarships.

Jimenez is a child of extreme poverty in a bastion of priviledge. He is deadly serious about his studies while everybody around him goes to parties and plays around. Jimenez's little brother works 35 hours a week after high school to help support the family so that Jimenez can go to college, and this weighs very heavily on his mind. He never forgets the continuing sacrifices his family makes so that he can better himself, and he works many jobs during college to cover his own and his family's expenses. One of the more poignant scenes in the book is when Jimenez makes friends with a janitor because he can totally relate to the man, having done janitorial work throughout high school. Jimenez wins a Wilson scholarship to grad school and goes to Colombia. His story is incredibly moving, instructive and inspiring.