However, at the novel’s conclusion, immigration officials make a surprise sweep of Francisco’s school and haul him away and set off to find Roberto, too, which completely topples the boys’ lives and futures. Toward the end of the novel, it seems like Francisco’s life is finally improving since the family settles in one town and Francisco is excelling in school. Francisco loves his four younger siblings, but he is especially close to his older brother, Roberto, who is very responsible and is a role model to Francisco. Papá is a hard worker who does his best to support his family, while Mamá is warm, loving, and supportive. While Francisco struggles because of his family’s poverty and their precarious position as undocumented immigrants, he is buoyed by the deep and enduring love they have for one another.

Despite these challenges, Francisco tops his class in math as an eighth-grader, which is proof of his intelligence and determination. He also struggles when he starts school as a first-grader, as he doesn’t speak English. He attends school for only a few months in the year since he works alongside his family in the fields at the peak of the harvest season, and since his family moves around so much, he can never attend one school for more than a few months.

This takes a toll on Francisco, as he longs to settle in one city so he can cultivate friendships and attend school without interruption. Francisco’s family illegally crosses the border into California from Mexico when Francisco is a young boy, and as undocumented immigrants in the United States who earn their living as migrant workers, their lives are mired in hardship and anxiety. He is a little boy of around four at the beginning of the book and grows into a young teen by the novel’s conclusion. Francisco is the protagonist and narrator of The Circuit.

The Circuit by Francisco Jiménez