Author:   Silva, Simón
Title:   Small-town browny
Publisher:  Arte Cachanilla    Publication Date:  1998
Pages:   94
Paper price: $14.95    ISBN:  0-9666241-0-6
Type: Fiction      Grade level(s): young adult through adult
Translation notes:  not a translation

Reviewer:  Therese Bustos-Ortega, Library Technician, Auraria Library, Denver, Colorado
Comments:
Small-Town Browny is a grim reminder of the social injustices and the inequalities that the migrant worker and their families face in everyday life.  The dozen vignettes are told through the eyes of an elementary school boy farm worker who is lucky enough to make it through to manhood.  What Silva does with the traumatic episodes in the protagonist's life is to spin a little humor in the bitter moments of his existence.  For example, a domestic violence scene is staged as a professional wrestling match, and the lack of basic medical necessities are spoofed as luxuries when a "Scooby-Doo" bandage can be used to heal a severe lesion.  Silva's comedy is a familiar element which many people of poverty use to survive the dismal realities of being poor in America.
Silva's vignettes are enjoyable reading, considering the dismal subject matter involved with migrant labor.  Even though some episodes are more poignant than others, the characters, symbolism, and messages of migrant labor and poverty are clearly stamped in the reader's mind.  This is a recommended read to all those wanting to learn about migrant life or to those who survived it.