Amelia’s Road

By Linda J. Altman, Enrique O. Sanchez
Paperback: $11.95

A girl from a migrant worker family overcomes the hardship of moving by creating a special place for herself.

Front cover for El camino de Amelia by Linda Jacobs Altman and Enrique O. Sanchez
This book is also available in Spanish
El camino de Amelia
By Linda J. Altman, Enrique O. Sanchez

Description

Amelia Luisa Martinez hates roads. Los caminos, the roads, take her migrant worker family to fields where they labor all day, to schools where no one knows Amelia’s name, and to bleak cabins that are not home.

Amelia longs for a beautiful white house with a fine shade tree in the yard, where she can live without worrying about los caminos again. Then one day, Amelia discovers an “accidental road.” At its end she finds an amazing old tree reminiscent of the one in her dreams. Its stately sense of permanence inspires her to put her own roots down in a very special way.

The richly colored illustrations bring to life the landscape of California’s Central Valley farmland. Amelia’s Road is an inspirational tale about the importance of home.

About the Creators

Linda J. Altman
Linda J. Altman

Linda Jacobs Altman is the author of Amelia's Road, published by Lee & Low, and named a "Choices" selection by the Cooperative Children's Book Center. Altman, who lives in Clearlake, California, frequently writes for the educational market.

Enrique O. Sanchez
Enrique O. Sanchez

Enrique O. Sanchez has illustrated numerous award winning children's books, including Lee & Low's Abuela's Weave, Amelia's Road, and Confetti. A native of the Dominican Republic, he splits his time between his homes in Bass Harbor, Maine and Miami, Florida.

Awards

  • CCBC Choices

    Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)

Reviews

  • "Altman's first picture book provides an affecting and ultimately hopeful look at a transient way of living that will be unfamiliar to most of her audience. Sanchez's richly textured acrylic paintings deftly portray the arduous daily routine of migrant workers as well as the wide range of Amelia's emotions."

    - Publishers Weekly
  • "What will stay with kids is the physical sense of what it's like to work and move all the time. . . The yearning in the story is palpable: the dream of what many long for and others take for granted — a settled home, white and tidy, with a fine old shade tree growing in the yard. Security."

    - Booklist
  • "A spare, unsentimental, empathetic picture of a quietly courageous child making the best of difficult necessity. Sanchez provides handsome acrylic paintings in a monumental, fresco-like style that emphasizes these characters' dignity and humanity."

    - Kirkus Reviews
  • "An important title for any library serving migrant populations, Amelia's Road should be a welcome addition almost anywhere. Useful in a variety of educational units, it works equally well as a read-aloud or read-alone."

    - School Library Journal

Paperback

  • ISBN 9781880000274
  • Price $11.95
  • Publication Date Sep 01, 1993
  • Trim Size 10.25 × 8.5 in
  • Weight 0.3125 lbs
  • Page Count 32
  • Word Count 1071
  • Hardcover

  • ISBN 9781880000045
  • Price $17.95
  • Publication Date Sep 01, 1993
  • Trim Size 10.25 × 8.25 × 0.5 in
  • Weight 0.4375 lbs
  • Page Count 32
  • Word Count 1071
  • Interests

  • Imprint Lee & Low Books
  • Audience Children
  • BISAC Category 1 JUV / Lifestyles / Farm & Ranch Life
  • BISAC Category 2 JUV / People & Places / United States / Hispanic & Latino
  • BISAC Category 3 JUV / Social Themes / Emigration & Immigration
  • Themes Farming, Fiction, Gratitude, Home, Immigration, Latinx / Latino / Hispanic, Optimism / Enthusiasm, People In Motion, Poverty, Realistic Fiction, Respect / Citizenship
  • Reading Levels

  • Age Range Ages 5 - 8
  • Grade Range Grades K - 3
  • Guided Reading O
  • ATOS Book Level 4.1
  • DRA 30
  • Lexile Level 660
  • Reading Level Grades 2 - 3
  • SRC 4.8
  • Bebop Reading Fluent
  • This Book is Included in These Collections:

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