"Sensitive reminisces of a Mexican American teenager on a cherry-picking 'vacation' in the summer of 1969 with his family in northern Michigan. Provides a window to family, religion, race relations, and short-term community life among migrant farm working families through the experiences of an adolescent boy who is coming of age in a migrant camp and the orchards of cherry growers." ―Rubén Martinez, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus

Many families who migrated to Michigan as farm workers settled in various areas of the state to find jobs in industry and business. Ours was one such family, but in the summer, we joined hundreds of migrants returning to the orchards in Traverse City, Hart, and Ludington to harvest the cherry crop. We lived in tents, garages, and barns, picking from dawn until sunset.

In the fall, we returned to school, where teachers would often assign the first writing task: "My Summer Vacation." So we wrote about Lake Michigan, the Cherry Festival, the parade, and the beaches but omitted the daily work in the hot sun. That work provided shoes, clothes, and school supplies, and a kind of vacation. This book brings back those memories. ―Rachael Elisa Moreno