TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 Fingers to the Bone CHAPTER 2 Working for Pennies CHAPTER 3 On the Road CHAPTER 4 Long Days CHAPTER 5 Going to School IN THEIR OWN WORDS Melissa Gonzales CHAPTER 6 A New Beginning IN THEIR OWN WORDS Zulema Lopez CHAPTER 7 Changes and Challenges Focus on Children Working the Fields Glossary To Learn More Index
CHAPTER 1 FINGERS TO THE BONE Until the 1930s many factories mines and farms in the United States relied on the labor of children But in 1938 the US Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act This law limited the number of hours children could work It also restricted the types of jobs they could do However the law did not protect children working in agriculture Children as young as five continued planting and harvesting crops Children in the fields often carried water jugs for the other workers 5
