Last Ride on the Ferry ― My Life As a Migrant Worker 1940's

Back cover book descriptionLast Ride on the Ferry is a true story. The Reyna family had ancestors who were displaced Mexicans after The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo of 1848, in the same land we know as Texas. As a result, the family had kinfolk on both sides of the border. Eight siblings aspire for acceptance in their own country. Hardships, adventure and humorous events unfold during the 1940s - 1950s when the family becomes migrant workers. This memoir tells the multigenerational story of the Reyna family, especially the life of Severo and endurable bond of family love.When Severo's life cycle ends, the family honor their father's request to have his remains return to Mexico and reunite with his umbilical cord. It was his last ride on the ferry.The author, an American of Mexican decent gives the reader a first-hand account of being a migrant worker, constantly changing schools five or more time a year. She traveled, camped and worked with Braceros and Mexican families. The author says; "God blessed me with a good memory for recalling my early years. I had a journal filed in my brain, a diary about the America I knew. The America, Norman Rockwell never painted."Lack of education discouraged her from writing this book, but she said her husband (her Wizard of Oz) gave her the confidence she needed. She started taking writing and computer classes. Angelica Reyna's first book was a fiction with the same title, but she had always wanted to make it non-fiction. After she got all her siblings approval and blessings to use their real names she made a revision with more stories of recollections her siblings shared with her.