Under the Same Sky

Cynthia DeFelice

Apr 2005 · Sold by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

About this ebook

A teenager discovers racism and romance on his father's farm

For his fourteenth birthday, Joe Pedersen wants a motorbike that costs nearly a thousand dollars. But his mom says the usual birthday gift is fifty dollars, and his dad wants Joe to earn the rest of the money himself and "find out what a real day's work feels like." Angry that his father doesn't think he's up to the job, Joe joins the Mexican laborers who come to his father's farm each summer. Manuel, the crew boss, is only sixteen, yet highly regarded by the other workers and the Pedersen family. Joe's resentment grows when his father treats Manuel as an equal. Compared with Manuel, Joe knows nothing about planting and hoeing cabbage and picking strawberries. But he toughs out the long, grueling days in the hot sun, determined not only to make money but to gain the respect of his stern, hardworking father. Joe soon learns about the problems and fears the Mexicans live with every day, and, before long, thanks to Manuel, his beautiful cousin Luisa, and the rest of the crew, Joe comes to see the world in a whole different way.

In her sensitive new novel, Cynthia DeFelice explores our dependency on migrant workers and simultaneous reluctance to let these people into our country and into our lives.

Under the Same Sky is a 2004 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

Ratings and reviews

I would recommend this book to anybody who is interested in stories about the plight of Mexican farm workers or if you like realistic fiction. You can learn a lot about farming and differences in people's lives and beliefs.

This is a story about a young Caucasian teenager who wants to raise money to buy a dirtbike, so he takes a job working with migrant workers on a farm picking strawberries. Slowly, they begin to bond until the farm is raided and the workers are sent back to Mexico.

This is a story about a young Caucasian teenager who wants to raise money to buy a dirtbike, so he takes a job working with migrant workers on a farm picking strawberries. Slowly, they begin to bond until the farm is raided and the workers are sent back to Mexico.

About the author

Cynthia DeFelice is the author of many bestselling books for young readers, including The Ghost of Fossil Glen, Wild Life, Signal, The Missing Manatee, and Weasel. Her books have been nominated for an Edgar Allen Poe Award and listed as American Library Association Notable Children's Books and Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year, among numerous other honors. She lives in upstate New York.