Breaking Through

Continues The Life Of The Author

Great continuation of The Circuit. Interesting and engaging story especially for YA to learn how different groups of people have and continue to live in the US. The narrator is great and brings the great characters to life.

Great book

I love his life stories. Great sequel to The Circuit, the narrator is great too.

Great Story of DOABLE hope and triumph

I finished it in one setting. I loved this story and couldn't tell that it was a sequel. I will be excited to teach it this week!

Great Success Story

Great story all the way to the end. You can really relate with the characters.

Amazing story. Worth reading

Finished the book in one day. Could not put it down. It is a very easy read but the story is so amazing and inspirational I have no words to express. I simply loved it.

great book.

loved it. I shared it with class of sixth graders who loved it too!

Teachable Moment

Would you consider the audio edition of Breaking Through to be better than the print version?

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What did you like best about this story?

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Which character – as performed by Adrian Vargas – was your favorite?

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Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

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Any additional comments?

This is a wonderful story about the strong family values and work ethic of Mexican migrants. It brought back memories of grade school friends sorely missed when they had to move on with their family to the next field job. I still wonder about them and wish I could find them. This book is set in the 1960s and the struggles and racism this family experienced, while appalling, seem almost quaint compared to the experience of migrants today. There were moments in the book when I was on the edge of my seat because I expected a very different outcome. In today’s world, if la migra had picked up Francisco they could have shipped him to Nogales without any notice to his parents and dumped him on the border, day or night. There would be no legal option for this family to return to the U.S. Their only option to return would be to risk their lives by illegally crossing the desert on foot. Hundreds die every year on that journey. Given that status, when Francisco’s father accidently sawed off his finger or when his infant sibling needed care, this family would have been extremely reluctant to seek medical help. Francisco might graduate from college with honors but he would never be allowed to actually teach in the U.S. I was touched by the many teachers, employers, and counselors who reached out to this family and am saddened that our society has become so mean spirited that we can’t make room for those who would make such good citizens and good neighbors. I hope that those who are using this text to teach will contrast this family’s experience with our current immigration policies.

Well Done!

Where does Breaking Through rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Narrator Adrian Vargas does a terrific job with this story! I really enjoyed his work.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I love the way Francisco (Panchito) Jimenez tells his story with humor and humility.

Have you listened to any of Adrian Vargas’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, this was the first by Mr. Vargas.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

The story is told with humor and Mr. Vargas brought out the lightheartedness of many situations in the plot. It certainly made me laugh.

Any additional comments?

I have read the novel several times (I teach it in my reading class). I was worried that an audio would not capture the emotions in the book, but my worries were completely unnecessary. Mr. Vargas does a wonderful job of bringing life to this fabulous story.

I LOVED it!!!

My 9th grade intensive reading students enjoyed the reading. I also like the fluency of the reading and the expression of the reader. I ordered 2 more audio books for next quarter!

A played up story

a played up story about people breaking the law there are a lot of great places in Mexico to live and work In the I have spent some time in many of them