Picture this: a land where you can sweep up money and everyone is happy. Sounds pretty great, right? When Francisco and his family think of California, this super happy image is what they have in mind… but when they show up, things are a wee bit different. Often they're living by a garbage dump and spending their days scrambling to find work. Yep, life in California sure can be tough in The Circuit. There are some good times too, of course, but in the end the California of their dreams and the California of their reality are vastly different.
Questions About Visions of California
- What do the characters expect to find in California? And how does the reality of California match up to the characters' expectations?
- What makes California an awesome place to live? And what are the downsides? Do you think it's more of a positive or negative place in this book?
- What are the differences between California and Mexico in The Circuit? And what are the similarities?
Chew on This
In The Circuit, the characters discover that California might have its flaws, but overall it's still the best place on earth.
In The Circuit, California turns out to be a big disappointment because the bad outweighs the good.