Cranston Public Library

First published in 1939, Steinbeck's Pulitzer Prize winning epic of the Great Depression chronicles the Dust Bowl migration of the 1930s and tells the story of one Oklahoma farm family, the Joads, driven from their homestead and forced to travel west to the promised land of California. Out of their trials and their repeated collisions against the hard realities of an America divided into haves and have nots evolves a drama that is intensely human...

Presents an account of the life of the Mexican American labor activist who helped organize the migrant farm workers and establish a union to fight for their rights.

A riveting novel of labor strife and apocalyptic violence, now a major motion picture starring James Franco, Bryan Cranston, Selena Gomez, and Zach Braff
A Penguin Classic
At once a relentlessly fast-paced, admirably observed novel of social unrest and the story of a young man's struggle for identity, In Dubious Battle is set in the California apple country, where a strike by migrant workers against rapacious landowners spirals...

Discusses the history, romanticized myth, and harsh way of lifeof America's tenant farmers and migrant workers from the homesteading days of the West to the present.

The story of the famed civil rights leader and labor organizer torn between his duties as a husband and father and his commitment to securing a living wage for farm workers. Chavez embraced non-violence as he battled greed and prejudice in his struggle to bring dignity to people. He inspired millions of Americans who never worked on a farm to fight for social justice. His triumphant journey is a remarkable testament to the power of one individual's...

"A collection of linked stories set in the small towns surrounding Fresno depicts the struggles of Mexican American farmworkers and their families, their messy and sometimes violent realities tempered by moments of tenderness and care."--

"Cesar Chavez was one of the most influential labor leaders of the twentieth century. His story, from migrant field worker to champion of the voiceless, is a fascinating one that resonates today. Readers will be able to learn about the man Robert F. Kennedy called one of the "heroic figures of our time" through this account which interweaves Chavez's own words throughout the biographical text. Historic photographs bring the man to life, while sidebars...

New York Times Bestseller: The shadowy world of "off the books" businesses-from marijuana to migrant workers-brought to life by the author of Fast Food Nation. America's black market is much larger than we realize, and it affects us all deeply, whether or not we smoke pot, rent a risqué video, or pay our kids' nannies in cash. In Reefer Madness, the award-winning investigative journalist Eric Schlosser turns his exacting eye to the underbelly of...

"Lucía loves to watch the monarchs' migration from her home in Mexico with Papá. But this year, the monarchs' journey north holds extra weight; Papá is heading north, too, to look for work. He promises her that when 'the weather turns cold and the monarcas return, our winged ancestors will guide me home.' So while he spends the summer months harvesting produce on faraway farms, Lucía watches the skies for signs of the monarchs'--and her papá's--return"--...