One Semester, One Book / A SEED IN THE SUN

One Semester, One Book is an activity that has been a tradition at Burbank Middle School for the past 20 years. It is a literacy initiative that involves the entire campus. An appropriate book is selected, and a copy is given to each student. A chapter is read every day during homeroom period, with a discussion as well as some guided activities to follow. At the end of the month, there is a Family Literacy Night where all our students, parents, and community are invited to participate in fun literary activities.

This year's book is titled A Seed in the Sun by Aida Salazar. This is the blurb from the Penguin Random House page:

"Lula Viramontes aches to one day become someone whom no one can ignore: a daring ringleader in a Mexican traveling circus. But between working the grape harvest in Delano, California, with her older siblings under dangerous conditions; taking care of her younger siblings and Mamá, who has mysteriously fallen ill; and doing everything she can to avoid Papá’s volatile temper, it’s hard to hold on to those dreams.

Then she meets Dolores Huerta, Larry Itliong, and other labor rights activists and realizes she may need to raise her voice sooner rather than later: Farmworkers are striking for better treatment and wages, and whether Lula’s family joins them or not will determine their future."

Burbank Middle School