DreamFields: A Peek into the World of Migrant Youth

by Janice Blackmore

A dynamic group of migrant youth in Mount Vernon, Washington, want you to understand what it feels like to walk in their shoes - shoes caked in mud from the fields, shoes scrubbed daily so they will last, shoes grown too tight, shoes carrying them from place to place. They have decided to open their lives to you in a way that they have never done before. Prepare yourself for the soulful, powerful, and sometimes awkward writing of teenagers speaking from the heart.

140 pages, Paperback

First published December 20, 2012

Reviews

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading The Circuit (reading both that and this for bookclub this month) - it's disheartening and maddening to realize upon reading this collection of essays and poems, that things haven't changed in the 50+years since The Circuit was set. That was fictional, but based on the author's experiences. DreamFields is at once uplifting as it is heartbreaking. Every single one of these kids - and that's what they are - kids - include making it from middle school to high school as dream 1, finishing hs, dream 2, and not ending up working in the fields, making their parents proud....as dream 3. I love that I know the woman who edited this collection because I want to know what became of the kids who shared their personal stories. Read it- and think ----- next time you buy fruits and veggies- a migrant kid may very well have picked your blueberries before she or he headed off to school in the morning.