Nailed into a crate in the back of a truck, fifteen-year-old Maria, her older sister, Julia, their little brother, Oscar, and a boy named Tomas endure a terrifying and torturous journey across the U.S. border and then north to Chicago. There they struggle to find work-cleaning, sewing, washing dishes-always fearful of arrest and deportation back to the cruelties of El Salvador. By turns heartbreaking and hopeful, this moving story of the secret lives of immigrants is not to be missed. A gripping, lyrical portrayal of a continuing American dilemma." (Kirkus Reviews, pointer review)

Journey of the Sparrows

Children's Books

Buss, Fran Leeper

Cubias, Daisy

Literature & Fiction

Puffin Books

Nailed into a crate in the back of a truck, fifteen-year-old Maria, her older sister Julia, their little brother Oscar, and a boy named Tomas endure a cruel journey across the U.S. border and then north to Chicago. There they struggle to find work--cleaning, sewing, washing dishes--always careful to remain "invisible" so the authorities won't arrest and deport them. Despite the family's ordeals, hope and love can be found--in Maria's budding romance with Tomas, in the help given by a kindly midwife and priest, and most of all, in the stories Maria tells to lift the family's spirits, of a little sparrow who brings a rainbow. Starkly realistic and tenderly poetic, this powerfully moving story of the secret lives of immigrants who courageously triumph over incredible obstacles is not to be missed.

Growing Up & Facts of Life

Yearling

Fran Leeper Buss, a former welfare recipient who earned a PhD in history and became a pioneer in the field of oral history, has for forty years dedicated herself to the goal of collecting the stories of marginal and working-class U.S. women. Memory, Meaning, and Resistance is based on over 100 oral histories gathered from women from a variety of racial, ethnic, and geographical backgrounds, including a traditional Mexican American midwife, a Latina poet and organizer for the United Farm Workers, and an African American union and freedom movement organizer. Buss now analyzes this body of work, identifying common themes in women’s lives and resistance that unite the oral histories she has gathered. From the beginning, her work has shed light on the inseparable, compounding effects of gender, race, ethnicity, and class on women’s lives—what is now commonly called intersectionality. Memory, Meaning, and Resistance is structured thematically, with each chapter analyzing a concept that runs through the oral histories, e.g., agency, activism, religion. The result is a testament to women’s individual and collective strength, and an invaluable guide for students and researchers, on how to effectively and sensitively conduct oral histories that observe, record, recount, and analyze women’s life stories.

Memory, Meaning, and Resistance: Reflecting on Oral History and Women at the Margins

History

Americas

University of Michigan Press

Jesusita Aragon tells of her life in rural New Mexico and of her emergence as a community leader

LA Partera: Story of a Midwife

Biographies & Memoirs

Community & Culture

The University of Michigan Press

Dignity brings together the stories of ten lower income American women whose backgrounds vary, but who share a struggle for survival and a quest for dignity in the face of hardship. Young or old, urban or rural, welfare recipient or union activist, each relates her life story with rich detail, poignant humor, and remarkable courage.

Dignity: Lower Income Women Tell of Their Lives and Struggles (Women and Culture Series)

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

Fran Leeper Buss, a former welfare recipient who earned a PhD in history and became a pioneer in the field of oral history, has for forty years dedicated herself to the goal of collecting the stories of marginal and working-class U.S. women. Memory, Meaning, and Resistance is based on over 100 oral histories gathered from women from a variety of racial, ethnic, and geographical backgrounds, including a traditional Mexican American midwife, a Latina poet and organizer for the United Farm Workers, and an African American union and freedom movement organizer. Buss now analyzes this body of work, identifying common themes in women’s lives and resistance that unite the oral histories she has gathered. From the beginning, her work has shed light on the inseparable, compounding effects of gender, race, ethnicity, and class on women’s lives—what is now commonly called intersectionality. Memory, Meaning, and Resistance is structured thematically, with each chapter analyzing a concept that runs through the oral histories, e.g., agency, activism, religion. The result is a testament to women’s individual and collective strength, and an invaluable guide for students and researchers, on how to effectively and sensitively conduct oral histories that observe, record, recount, and analyze women’s life stories.   

Jesusita Aragon earned the title "la partera," or midwife, at the age of fourteen. Apprenticed to her grandmother, she learned the traditional Hispanic methods of assisting childbirth. She won the coveted title by performing her first delivery when an expectant mother went into labor in her grandmother's absence. In the years that followed, she was often the only source of medical care available in an isolated, mountainous area of New Mexico. Jesusita was so prized for her medical wisdom that she came to deliver more than 12,000 babies in the course of her career. This is Jesusita's story, told in her own words. She describes her early training as a midwife, her forced departure from home due to two unmarried pregnancies, and her solitary struggle to support her children. La Partera tells how she gradually emerged as a leader in her community, painstakingly building by hand a small maternity center for her patients while gaining the respect of the Anglo medical community. As Jesusita's story unfolds, so too does the story of the women of the region. Supplemental sections by the author illuminate Jesusita's culture and past, along with a historical account of the network of medical care provided by Hispanic and Anglo female healers. Illustrated with photographs of both people and places, La Partera reflects the culture of an era through the prism of Jesusita's hard and useful life. Fran Leeper Buss lives and teaches in Tucson, Arizona.

La Partera: Story of a Midwife (Ann Arbor Paperbacks)

This portrait of Jesusita Aragon, a midwife in San Miguel County, New Mexico, combines the biography of one of the county's most important women with insights into the lives and customs of one Hispanic community

Univ of Michigan Pr

Buss has compiled the stories of 10 lower-income women, told in their own words

Dignity: Lower Income Women Tell of Their Lives and Struggles : Oral Histories (Women and Culture Series)

Having crossed the border into the United States illegally, Maria, her ailing brother, Oscar, and her pregnant sister, Julia, hide from the immigration officials who would send them back to El Salvador and the mercy of the Guardias

Demco Media

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Buss, Fran Leeper. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Buss, Fran Leeper

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Buss, Fran Leeper. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Journey of the Sparrows

Journey of the Sparrows

Memory, Meaning, and Resistance: Reflecting on Oral History and Women at the Margins

LA Partera: Story of a Midwife

Dignity: Lower Income Women Tell of Their Lives and Struggles (Women and Culture Series)

Memory, Meaning, and Resistance: Reflecting on Oral History and Women at the Margins

La Partera: Story of a Midwife (Ann Arbor Paperbacks)

LA Partera: Story of a Midwife

Dignity: Lower Income Women Tell of Their Lives and Struggles : Oral Histories (Women and Culture Series)

Journey of the Sparrows