I grew up in cotton country around Lubbock, Texas and apparently did not know as much about the cotton industry as I thought. I remember waiting until I turned 12 so that I could work during the summers for a farmer spraying or hoeing weeds. I thought the money would be worth the labor. I was so wrong. We only worked from 7 A.M. until noon. We were fed lunch, watched Days of our Lives , and were then taken to the swimming pool. I thought life was rough. I cannot even imagine having to depend on that money to support my family. My family was by no means wealthy. There were five children in my family and money was tight, but we always had what we needed. The money that I earned during the summers was for the things that I wanted.
This book once again took me out of my comfort zone when I put my experience in the cotton fields up next to the ones that I read about. It makes me feel guilty hat I complained about work. Now I am grateful for the opportunity that I had.
This book tells the story of cotton and much more. I think that middle school students would be able to put themselves into some of these situations because of the age of some of the child workers.
I think that the photographs were very well chosen and allow the reader to see what conditions were like for the folks in the book. I really enjoyed the photographs and think that I was able to get a better understanding of the conditions by looking deeply at them. You can almost see the feelings on the faces of the people.
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Hey Amy,
I don't know if you will or not, but you might read my journal about the Up From Daybreak book. I think since you have had such valuable experiences in the cotton industry you would really appreciate the books by Zandy, Rose, and Ehrenreich that I have talked about in my Journal review. Someone directed my attention at them once and they are books that I love to re-read, not just to think about teaching but for me.... after all "how much are two hands worth?" (Zandy, 2004, 7). ~Tasha
Sorry about that no title thing...
Zandy's works are Hands, and Liberating Memory. Both are great. But my favorite is Hands.
Rose's is Valueing the Intelligence of the Worker
and Ehrenreich's work is Nickel and Dimed in America
Most definately you should read Zandy's I think its informative but also such a beautiful work. ~tasha
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