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Taking Hold: From Migrant Childhood to Columbia University
Taking Hold: From Migrant Childhood to Columbia University
Taking Hold: From Migrant Childhood to Columbia University
Ebook196 pages4 hours

Taking Hold: From Migrant Childhood to Columbia University

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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In this fourth book in his award-winning memoir series, Francisco Jimenez leaves everything behind in California—a loving family, a devoted girlfriend, and the culture that shaped him— to attend Columbia University in New York City.

With few true accounts of the Latino experience in America, Francisco Jimenez’s work comes alive with telling details about the warmth and resiliency of family and the quest for identity against seemingly impossible odds.

"Many [students] have commented that your books give them hope and courage and, thanks to you, many are seriously thinking about college for the first time in their lives" --John Padula, teacher, Boston Public Schools

LanguageEnglish
PublisherHarperCollins
Release dateApr 7, 2015
ISBN9780547645698
Taking Hold: From Migrant Childhood to Columbia University
Author

Francisco Jiménez

Francisco Jiménez emigrated from Tlaquepaque, Mexico, to California, where he worked for many years in the fields with his family. He received both his master’s degree and his Ph.D. from Columbia University and is now the chairman of the Modern Languages and Literature Department at Santa Clara University, the setting of much of his newest novel, Reaching Out. He is the Pura Belpre Honor winning author of The Circuit, Breaking Through, and La Mariposa. He is also the recipient of the John Steinbeck Award. He lives with his family in Santa Clara, California.

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Just finished reading Taking Hold by Francisco Jimenez. I have missed so much. This the first book that I have read by the author yet he written so much more. Now I am very eager to read more. He was a child in a migrant farm worker family yet he managed to earn his doctorate degree from Columbia University. When he was only four years old, he crossed the United States and Mexico border illegally. Their purpose was to escape crushing poverty and have a much better future. The author begins with his earliest memories of his family working in cotton fields and strawberry farms. He described having moving farm to farm and the difficulty of finding food and shelter. My mother's diary told me about strawberry picking during the Great Depression so I already knew about the back breaking labor, often in the hot sun. She wanted to earn some money but after three weeks she gave up. But they could not give up because his family needed food and shelter for them to survive. Many of his stories about his life told of perseverance That trait was instilled in him by his family and it keep him going while he was in college and graduate school. What really impressed me was the strong sense of the value of family. Reading about his family made me feel at home with all of them and a deep admiration for them. I also loved that he talks about the books and teachers who he loved.I highly recommend this book because of its inspiring themes. His culture is very different from the one that I grew up in but the family values are happily the same.I received this Advanced Reading Copy by making a selection from Amazon Vine books but that in no way influenced my thoughts or feelings in this review. I also posted this review only on sites meant for reading not for selling

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Taking Hold - Francisco Jiménez

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