Amelia's Road

by Linda Jacobs Altman, Enrique O. Sánchez (Illustrator)

Tired of moving around so much, Amelia, the daughter of migrant farm workers, dreams of a stable home.

Genres: Picture Books, Historical Fiction, Childrens, Fiction, Family, Latinx, Realistic Fiction

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Kim Pietrobono · Rating 4 out of 5]

Award(s): Lee & Low Award Winner
Grade: Kindergarten—Grade 3
Summary: Amelia’s Road tells a story about Amelia Luisa Martinez and her family who are migrant farm workers. Amelia longs for a home that she can always come back to and call her own; unfortunately, this is not a reality for her and her family as they move from place to place with the harvest. Consequently, Amelia struggles to make friends and find a place where she belongs—until one day she stumbles upon a path that leads her to a tall tree where she buries a box of memories to indicate a special place she can always come back to and call her own.
Review: This book resonated with me because I have a very strong interest in Hispanic culture. I am studying elementary education with a concentration in Spanish, with hopes to one day work with ESL students. I felt that this book gave a very informative look into what life is like as a migrant worker living in poverty from a relatable perspective.
In Class Uses: The book can be used as a reference for background knowledge during units or lessons regarding Immigration, Latin American/Latino(a)/Hispanic/Spanish Study, or Poverty. Another use could be as a discussion starter about culture/diversity and how everyone comes from different places and has different customs. Furthermore, they could bring in an item for show and tell that represents something about their own culture.

[Reva Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: This book is about a young girl who is constantly traveling with her family, who are migrant workers. She is constantly changing schools and homes in order for her family to make the money they need. Amelia is not happy with her life and dreams of a white house with land around her. When she discovers the accidental road, she finds her happiness and plans to build her white house there that day, right by her shade tree.
Evaluation: I gave this book an overall rating of 4. I do feel like it does give a good insight of how immigrants feel and especially how children feel. I do believe that more detailed illustrations could’ve been used in this book in order to engage readers more.
Teaching Point: I think i would use this to integrate both social studies and language arts. I would use this with 1st, 2nd, or 3rd grade. For social studies, we would talk about migrants and the hispanic culture and how it has changed over time while reading the book to the class. After reading the book aloud, I would ask my students to write an essay about the character’s feelings and how they would feel if he/she were in Amelia’s situation.

[Fefe · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5

[Andrew Jongeneel]

Amelia’s Road, written by Linda Jacobs Altman and illustrated by Enrique O Sanchez, is about a little girl, Amelia, and her family, who are migrant farmers in and move from harvest to harvest all throughout Mexico. She really despises “los caminos” which are the longs roads that the family travels on in their old car; she also does not like that she attends a new school every eight week or so since the teachers don’t learn her name and its hard for her to make friends. Amelia longed for a house with a big tree in the front. One teacher put in an effort to learn her name, and asked her what her dreams were. Amelia told her what she desired most, and on the way home from school that day, she found a path that led her to a big shady tree; she would imagine it was hers and she was sitting in front of her house. Once it was time for her family to pick up and move again, she buried a picture that she drew in school, along with a box filled with “Amelia things” and buries them under that special tree, promising to return one day. She knew that this tree would always be home to her. The reader can relate to the emotional aspect of the story while learning about how Mexican migrant worker live on a day to day basis. This story provides a very special view of a transient way of living, and will be very unfamiliar to many kids who read about Amelia. The illustrations show Amelia's facial expressions and add one more visual for children to connect to how she Amelia feels.

[Rosie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amelia and her family are migrant workers who travel to various locations to pick whatever fruits or vegetables are in season. Because of this, Amelia frequently changes schools and has a hard time making friends. She never quite feels at home but decides to bury a box of treasures under a tree to give her some place she can return to.

I enjoyed sharing this story with my grandma. Her father was also an agricultural worker who migrated throughout Arizona, New Mexico, California, and Colorado. My grandma was able to remain at home, but remembered many of her classmates had to frequently move as their parents found new jobs. It wasn't unusual for the kids in her grade to change throughout the school year because so many kids had to leave school to either work or move onto the next job. Stories like Amelia's Road are needed to help showcase the experience of migrant families, particularly from the perspective of a child.

[Shannon Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this book because Amelia is adventurous.

[Jessica Blonder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amelia’s Road
By LInda Altman and Enrique Sanchez
awards : Lee and Low books
Grade level: 1st- 3rd
Summary: Amelia has always moved around the Mexican country side with her family ever since she was born. They move with the harvest seasons, helping picking fruit or veggies. Amelia’s family has never stayed in one place for more than 8 weeks. Amelia’s dream is to have a big white house with a shady tree in the front. In school, she was asked by her teacher, (Who put in the effort to remember Amelia’s name) to draw her dearest wish. On the way home from school that day, Amelia finds a secret path that leads to an old shady tree. Every day Amelia would come back from school and sit under that tree. She would imagine she was at her dream-house. When it was time to move a long and follow the harvest, she buries the picture she drew in school, and many other things that represent her, under the tree. Amelia knew, that tree was always going to be home.
Review: This story made me cry, it was so emotional. The authors did a very good job of making the reader feel what Amelia was feeling. The other thing I really enjoyed about this book was learning about how Mexican migrant workers lived. The book details when they would work, what they would live in, and how they moved from place to place. For these reasons, I found it more suitable more for the upper grades.
Uses in the classroom
You can have the students draw a picture of their dreams or goals.
You can have the students make a self-identity project with prompting questions.
You can make a harvest chart, detailing what plant was good to harvest when

[Bertha Montaño · Rating 5 out of 5]

Linda Jacobs Altman’s children’s book is about a girl named Amelia who is a migrant worker. Her family has to continuously travel from place to place to work in the fields to agricultural work. She doesn’t stay at a school long enough for the teacher or students to remember her name. Amelia has to stay in camps that have tiny houses for the whole family to share. All Amelia wants is to feel like she belongs somewhere. In school, her teacher instructed the students to draw their dearest wishes. Amelia drew a pretty white house with a big tree in the yard. When it is time for Amelia to get back on the roads to travel to her family’s new work location, she decides to bury a box that she finds. She puts things that are important to her inside the box: her name tag from school, a picture of her family,ther drawing she made in class, and a map to the accidental road where she found the tree. The book is very descriptive and informative about the life of a migrant worker. I love how detailed and colorful the illustrations look. I would use this book to teach my students to describe how the characters in the story respond to major events and challenges.

[Lu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice story about a migrant family traveling for different fieldwork.

The illustrations are rendered in acrylic on canvas. I really like the textured look of these in the story -- like a fabric tale.

These are the parts that stood out to me:
-----
"por los caminos venideros" (for "the coming paths" or "the future paths". --> It refers to the paths or directions that lie ahead in the future, implying uncertainty and the various choices or outcomes that may unfold. --> In essence, "los caminos venideros" encompasses the concept of the future, with its various possibilities and unknowns.)
-----
Los caminos, the roads, were long and cheerless. They never went where you wanted them to go.
---
"Maybe someday," said her mother, but that wonderful someday never seemed to come.
---
(parents remembering her birthplace and time by the crops they picked)
---
Feeling as bright as the sky, she decided to look for a shortcut back to camp. That's when she found it.
The accidental road.
---
More than anywhere in the world, she wanted to belong to this place and know that it belonged to her.

[Anthony Minieri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Life Stories
Awards: Lee & Low Books Award Winner
Appropriate Grade Levels: 1-5
Summary: Amelia is the daughter within a migrant family that works in the field all day. Due to their frequent movement, Amelia is constantly going to school not knowing anyone and as you could expect, she hates the road. Amelia's perspective on life changes when she discovers a tree that reminds her of one she has seen in her dreams.
Review: Amelia's Road is a great story that will open the door for readers to see life from a completely different perspective. Readers will learn economic differences and cultural differences and the impact that has on a family. This is a powerful story about home and would make a fine addition to a classroom library.
In-Class Uses:
-Use as a tool to discuss culture
-Students can write in their journals about a time when they moved and/or if they moved, how would they feel about it.

[Taylor Ball · Rating 5 out of 5]

Appropriate Grade Levels: Kindergarten-Second Grade
Summary: Amelia hates roads! Every road she knows always leads to fields where people have to work very hard. She wishes for a road to go where she wants to go; where you did not have to work so hard and constantly move around from labor camp to labor camp. At last, she encounters a teacher that learns her name and cares about her and begins to feel like she belongs, but soon she must leave again.
Review: This book tells the story of what it felt like as a child living on a migrant worker labor camp. Linda Jacobs Altman does a great job of revealing the desire of migrant families to obtain the American Dream and the struggles that they encounter.
In Class Uses: This book can be used to teach children about the American Dream and the advantages and disadvantages that exist within the world.

[Jensine Foley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amelia hates all roads and all maps. Her family moves frequently to pick the crops and she has always hated the time when her father takes out the road maps. This time she particularly hates to move because she has been going to a school where, for the first time, the teacher has bothered to learn her name. Amelia comes upon an abandoned road that twists along beside the fields and into the woods. Here is a road she can love. In a metal box, she places the paper with the star and some other trinkets she has found. She buries the box beside the road. Now she has someplace to come back to. For the first time she doesn't cry when her father gets out the road map

[Kaitlyn Luzar · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story is about a young girl that travels with her family. Her family members are migrant farm workers. Her biggest dream is to come home to a house where she can actually call home. She doesn’t want to jump from place to place anymore. She struggles to find friends and feel at home when she moves. This book gave me an informative perspective on what it is like to go through living life as a migrant.

[Alexis Bell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me cry. The author did a good job of making the reader feel what Amelia was feeling. This book helped me learn about how Mexican migrant workers lived. The book told when they worked, what they lived in, and how they moved from place to place. I highly recommend that everyone read this book.

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully illustrated book about the life of Amelia, a young daughter of migrant farm workers who have no stable residence, but travel the roads from farm to farm, harvest to harvest, where they can find work. Amelia longs for a more stable life. My children were 8 and 6 when we read this to them.

[Caroline · Rating 1 out of 5]

Eh. Feels very flat, the characters are more caricatures than real people, their desires and how they try to reach them are the same. Painting a rosy picture of a life that is anything but. I'd prefer a book that is more honest about the difficulties of migrant workers.

[Ashlee Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Upper elementary
Genre: realistic fiction

Touching story on how real this can be for students. Really tugged at my heart strings.

[Atle Philip · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a nice read. A useful view into migrant workers life.

[Stacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good look into a life my students are not familiar with

[Cait · Rating 4 out of 5]

was making my way through a list of children's books about migrants of varying types

[Anneke Forzani · Rating 5 out of 5]

A story about migrant workers. Amelia longs for a real home, instead of always travelling with her family of migrant farm workers. Lovely illustrations make this book even more charming.

[Kayla Angulo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a great book to teach your children's about migrant farm workers. I can't wait to share this book with my family and friends.

[Darlena Glenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting book about how a young girl views migrant farming. I am grateful for this perspective.

[A'Mauri Webb · Rating 5 out of 5]

IT WAS GOOD

[Nancy Palmer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sobering look at a child’s struggle to adapt to being in a family of migrant workers.

[Anna Moorman · Rating 3 out of 5]

sweet but kinda boring even for a kids book

[Viviana · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.7 stars

[Vera Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

great illustrations, and shows the honest reality of what it is like to have to work as a child in the fields.

[Crystal Velez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Award(s): Lee & Low Award Winner

Grade: Kindergarten-3rd Grade

Summary: Linda Jacobs Altman's Amelia's Road is a realistic, historical children's picture book that tells the story of young Amelia trying to make the best of her temporary home. Her family are all migration workers in which forces them to move every so often, Amelia searchs for something permanent, to be apart of something that can be called home and she finds this through her teacher taking the time to know her name.

Review: I was not a fan of this book, it was kind of boring, but a lot can be learned about culture and history by reading this to a class.

In Class Uses: Latino/Hispanic/Spanish Study, Immigration, Home, Farming, Poverty

[Brittany Young · Rating 2 out of 5]

As soon as I picked up the book I noticed the cultural feel to the illustration on the cover. It seems to be portraying a South American style right off the bat. The colors though out the book are mostly green, red, blue, and primary colors like that. They are bold and strong colors, which seemed to contrast with the somber content. The illustrations inside the book look almost like dot illustration, created with oil pastel crayons. There was a white boarder around all of the images, creating distance from the reader. As if we were looking in on Amelia’s story. I liked that there was a huge variety in illustration form. Some pictures took up the whole page spread, others were 2/3 of the page, or full page with no text. Some pages did have a good amount of text on it. There was also some Spanish used in the story. I think this story would make a student appreciate what they have. Amelia had to work in an orchard and moved around every few months. A young reader could understand the story being read to them, I think a student would have to be a bit older to read it by themselves because there is so much text on some pages. The story bored me a bit. I understand that it deals with a touchy subject matter, but it was not presented in the most exciting way. The illustrations did not captivate me either. It could be used in the classroom to introduce children to economic struggle, but I think I could find a more interesting book to use in my own classroom.