A substantial work of nonfiction chronicles the efforts of farm workers to unionize and fight for better pay and working conditions in the 1960s and 1970s. The narrative emphasizes the efforts of César Chávez and Dolores Huerta, and the formation of the United Farm Workers of America. But author Larry Dane Brimner also discusses Larry Itliong and the organizing efforts of Filipino farm workers, whose decision to walk off the job in the Delano grape fields in 1965 was a huge impetus for the activism that followed. He also discusses the ongoing tension that existed between Filipino and Chicano worker organizations, though they eventually merged. Chávez is portrayed as a flawed but passionate activist in this detailed look at the politics within the activist organizations, and the political and social realities they were battling. Ample black-and-white photographs enrich this detailed history that resonates in myriad ways today, from issues of food and worker safety and fair pay to working conditions and the roles of immigrants in our work force. End matter includes a timeline, suggestions for further reading, and detailed source notes in this thoroughly researched history that drew in part on the author’s interviews and other primary source materials. (Age 13 and older)

*Discover the important history of California’s migrant workers and their strike for fair wages during the Delano grape strike in the 1960’s

*Learn about Latino civil rights activist César Chávez and Filipino-American labor organizer Larry Itliong

*From Sibert award-winning author Larry Dane Brimner
 
Here is the gripping story of the Grape Strike that stirred a nation, as well as the rise of Latino civil rights activist César Chávez and the United Farm Workers of America.
 
In the 1960’s, while the United States was at war and racial tensions were boiling over, Filipino-American workers were demanding fair wages and decent living conditions in California’s vineyards.  When the workers walked off the fields in September 1965, the great Delano grape strike began.  Did the signing of labor contracts with growers in 1970 mean an end to the problems of the American field laborers, or was it a short-lived truce? This nonfiction book for young readers follows the five-year long strike and also provides details about César Chávez and the United Farm Workers.  Award-winning author Larry Dane Brimner’s riveting text, complemented by black-and-white archival photographs and the words of workers, organizers, and growers, tells the powerful history.