Reaching Out

In 2008, Francisco Jiménez published Reaching Out, the third in his series of autobiographical memoirs for young adults. The first two books in the series chart Jiménez’s childhood and teenage years as the son of Mexican immigrants in southern California. Reaching Out starts in 1962 as Francisco (known as Frank) travels with his family to the campus of Santa Clara University to begin college.

Attending university is a hard-won blessing for Frank, the fruit of many years of hard work and sacrifice. Immigrating to the United States illegally from Mexico shortly after World War II, the Jiménez family found work as migrant laborers, picking cotton and other crops in the fields of California. In 1957 they were deported back to Mexico and later re-entered the States legally. Frank is sustained by the love and dedication of his close-knit family, headed by a stern but good-hearted father whose health problems have forced him to stop working. The father’s uncertain physical and emotional condition casts a shadow over the family, eventually leading to a crisis when he decides to return to Mexico.

At college, Frank faces a number of challenges. The lack of money is a persistent worry, and Frank feels torn between his responsibilities at college and what he sees as the duties he owes his struggling family.