It’s 1968, and a strike by field workers in the grape fields has
ripped an otherwise quiet central California town down the middle. Jack Duncan is
a Delano high school senior who is on his way to earning a baseball scholarship,
hoping to escape the turmoil infesting his town. His mother has kept from him
the real cause of his father’s death, who was a prominent grower. But when an
old friend hands Jack evidence indicating his father was murdered, he is
compelled to dig deeper. This throws him and his best friend and teammate,
Adrian Sanchez, whose father is a striking field worker, into the labor
conflict led by Cesar Chavez. Road to Delano is the path Jack and Adrian must
take to find their strength, their duty, and their destiny.
An ARC copy was
gifted to me by the author.
This is a compelling story with so many variables that I was amazed at how well the
author had fabricated it to a perfect fit. From water rights to gamble, the
story was a continuous growing plot that took you on a roller coaster ride of difficulties.
With no way of knowing the outcome.
The road to
Delano is an apt name for this book. The road is the backbone that brought the
storyline together, almost like a tapestry, as you hurried along the dirt roads
with its turmoil and mystery.
When we met
young Jack Duncan in his senior year, he had to quickly learn the ways of the grownups.
People that had the final say in everything he touched ruled Delano. Every
decision he made brought pain to others.
From a tender
age, his life was influenced by these so-called leaders of the community which left
him and his mother knocking at poverty’s door. Hoping to lift the financial
burden he raced against time to sell a combine. In his hurry, he was dumped into
a pool of mystery beginning with his father’s sudden death and had to come up
with a plan to save the acre of land still in their possession.
During ongoing
strikes between the farmworkers and the growers Jack tried to live a normal
teenage life but was dragged down continuously. Baseball was his only way out
of Delano which kept him focused on his game. A challenging task and he had to
learn to make choices that could either make them winners or be tossed on the
street.
It is only
fitting then to add these words to the review since it touches the core of the
story.
“When we are really honest with ourselves…only our lives… belong to us. So it is how we use our lives that determine what kind of men we are…so I am convinced that the truest act of courage, the strongest act of manliness, is to sacrifice ourselves for others in a totally nonviolent struggle for justice. To be a man is to suffer for others. God help us to be men!” Cesar Chavez, The Road to Delano
“He had come with a purpose—this was his road to Delano— to suffer for others so they could learn to fight for justice. Jack must find his own way, his own path, his own fight for justice.” Cesar Chavez
Once you know
your purpose all else falls into place. At times the price was high, lives taken,
and decisions made; all to finish the feud. A warning though, it is a
cliffhanger… I really hope to read more about Jack and Ella soon and the people
that shared their lives.
The supporting
characters: Ella, Adrian, Kolcinivitch,
Cesar Chavez, Shirley, and Herm and a few others each played their part well to
emphasize the gravity of the problems the community faced. With Jack growing up
fast: from a senior to a responsible man that
had to figure out the best way and to end the dispute that threatened to kill more
than just jobs or valuable land. It was a race against time and higher stakes
that made this a thrilling ride on a very bumpy road.
Sugar 1933
