Amazon.com Book Description (ISBN 1558850279, Paperback)

In this Spanish translation of Macho!, seventeen-year-old Roberto Garcia has big hopes for a future different from that of his compatriots in the highlands of Michoacan. Hungry for the prosperous life that he imagines on the other side of the border, Roberto steps onto the dangerous trail that so many immigrants have taken before him--from his mountainous home into the dangers of the world outside. Before long, Roberto finds himself in the land of promise: in the midst of golden fields and fertile fruit orchards where he can make more money in one week than he could have in a year back home. He learns quickly, though, that the backbreaking work in vegetable fields under the powerful sun does not gain him the wealth, freedom, and power that he'd hoped for. But even in that world of cramped trains, deadly deserts, and horrifying conditions, Roberto is determined to make a place for himself. This gripping novel by Victor Villasenor, author of Rain of Gold, boils with the conflicts of spiritual, social, and economic values of a young Mexican immigrant's coming of age in the United States.