Breaking Through (Edition 001)

My review of Breaking Through

This award-winning book is very interesting and adventure-packed!!! This book is about a family that escapes Mexico illegally. When they get to America, a couple of months pass and the Boarder Patrol find them. I recommend this book because it teaches people about how poor people live or how they kind of live.
This book's theme is courage. It shows courage when Francisco's father was really sick. Or when Francisco had not to be scared about being in the U.S. illegally. Also when Trampita was outside all night. And finally when Roberto's parents had to go back to Mexico. And that is how the book Breaking Through is full of courage.
The characters in this book are Mama, Papa, Roberto, Francisco, and Trampita. Roberto is the first of the children to get married. Francisco gets a job to help out his family. Trampita is Francisco's oldest littlest brother. Mama stays home and cleans there house. The characters, these things that happen in this book actually happened to them.
The setting of this book is in Mexico and the United States. They have to keep switching countries. Francisco has to keep switching and missing schools. Also the land is very dry and humid. And they didn't like sneaking into America.
This book is great for teaching people about love and caring for the whole family. I would recommend this book 5 out of 5 stars. This shows love, compassion, hard times and caring for their whole family. And not to forget about anyone that's in their family. And it teaches other people about how poor people live.

Book Review of Breaking Through


This book tells the story about a boy's life and how his family struggles with money. In this book Breaking Through by Francisco Jimenez a boy name Frankie has to manage school, work and his family. The whole book is about the hard time Mexicans had to go through during that time. The Mexicans would go past the gate somehow to get to the U.S. because Mexico was really poor and they got paid just enough to let them live but not enough to go up in life so they had to keep working. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes books about hard times and how they overcame challenges.
The main themes of this book are courage, bravery, love and friendship. The reason I picked courage was when Frankie's dad gets his finger cut off and he gets through all the pain. I pick bravery from when Frankie made a speech in front of the club roddery club without knowing he had to. I picked love from when Roberto got married and had a little baby named Jackie. I picked friendship because Frankie makes a lot of friends in the different clubs like the school council and Spanish club. The main characters in this book are Papa Mama Frankie Robert. And Frankie's little brother and sister. Frankie is school president and more of a get to know guy. Papa is always in a bad mood and works in the fields. Roberto is a janitor at a high school and worked a little in a restaurant. Mama is always worrying for papa and stays home and cleans with Frankie's little brother and sister. Frankie's little brother helps Frankie at work sometimes.
The main themes are home, work and school. Frankie's cleans buildings before and after school as a janitor by places in the country. Mama is home all day cleaning the house sometimes With Frankie's little brother. Robert is the high school janitor and works after school with Frankie when he was young. Roberto also worked at a restaurant for a couple days because he got fired for not working for a while because the boarder patrol caught the family but you'll have to see why.
I would recommend this book to everyone who likes excitement friendship and Mexicans going through hard times and how they got passed them. Frankie and Robert both get shut down because they went over to some peoples houses and the parents didn't want them to see them again because there Mexicans. But Roberto gets married without the other dad's permission. But you'll have to see what happens. Frankie makes a lot of friends going through middle school and high school. Couples of boys ask him to put on a dress in front of the whole school with them. Will he do it? You'll have to find out.

I listened to the audio version of this book, which I feel is extremely powerful since the narrarator can say words I am not familiar with in Spanish. You almost feel as if you are experiencing the troubles that Panchito experiences. I read this to my class, which mostly consists of children immigrated from Mexico, with households that Spanish is the primary language. The kids went bananas while listening to words they know that the teacher didn't know. Stories of all sorts came to light and descriptive writing came to life. Try this book as well as The Circuit (I like this one best though). If you don't speak Spanish fluently I recommend the audio versions.

This book is the sequel to THE CIRCUIT.
Its about this Mexican family that has to cross the border for a better life. This family has six kids including Panchito wich is Francisco. Him and his brother have to live tree months by themselves because they got deported back to Mexico and Panchitos dad has a back problem and he can not work. Roberto wich is older then Panchito gets a job as a janitor in El Camino High school. Panchito helps him out intil Panchito gets a job as a janitor to clean windows and offices. Panchito likes this girl that goes in his class. She invites him over to her house, he was impressed when he saw her house, it was really big. This is all i have read.

Breaking Through by Francisco Jimenez is an autobiographical novel. It is a moving and meaningful book, and I like it so much. Francisco immigrated to California with his family when he was a child. Because his family was poor, and his father had back problem, he and his brother had to work before and after school to support their family. Francisco had a dream to be a teacher. Though nobody in his family had gone to the college, and his family couldn't support him, he never gave up. He set up his target and studied hard. I was touched by his perseverance and diligence. Accordingly, I strongly recommend this book to the students. I think if we all make the great effort toward our goal, our dream finally will come true.