Schoolland depicts the daily life of a Mexican American family in rural Texas during the year of a great drought in the 1950’s. Struggles with nature and society form the backdrop for the eternal tale of a child coming of age as his grandfather is waning. Rural life, dialects and family conflicts are all rendered poetically and with the authenticity of having been born and raised in Schoolland, Gonzales, Smiley, Texas—as was Martínez—and with the modern, critical eye of having returned to the family farm to examine the past—as did Martínez. We are all, consequently, enriched by this portrayal of Texas Mexican life as it has never before appeared in American literature.
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