The autobiography Barefoot Heart by Elva Trevino Hart tells the story of a young Mexican migrant growing up with

her family in various parts of the United States. She and her siblings Rudy, Luis, Diamantina, Delia, and Delmira and her parents whom she calls Ama and Apa are living in poverty and desperate to find work. A friend of her fathers they call El Indio tells them there is work in the migrant farms up north, so the family sets off for Minnesota. Through years of going to and from these fields, Elva learns from early childhood that life is never easy and that her own voice is her best company in times of loneliness. Being the youngest of her five siblings, she is used to coming last and being alone. Her parents, desperate for money, leave their home in Texas and go up to Minnesota to work in the beet fields. Even as a three year-old, Elva knows she is an outcast. The rest of her family works together. She brings water to them when theyre thirsty, wandering along the edge of the fields because she is too young to work. Her first true experience of loneliness, though, occurs when she and her youngest sister Diamantina are sent to a Catholic school while her parents work. She realizes that she is completely cut off from her parents and from everyone else. Being separated from her sister for even a short while brings her to hysterics. While her sister is sympathetic and understands her position, her father expects the family to stay strong at all times. Though he appears cold and uncaring at times, however, it is clear that he cares very much for his children; rather than stay in the north and work the fields all year, he insists on returning to Texas every September so that his children may graduate from high school. Over the years, Elva and her family travel to and from Texas and the north. One day, Elva meets someone who changes her life, a young woman named Marielena. Marielena brings several migrant children to her house one evening to tell them stories. Elva never grew up reading books, so hearing someone unravel complicated and beautiful tales about princesses and fantasy creatures opens a new world to her. Later in life, Elva is still able to recall the tenderness with which Marielena treated the children and the magic of her stories. Marielena was the first person to

make Elva feel truly loved and understood, and she holds onto her memory forever. When she returns to Minnesota after first grade, her uncle has married, leaving the family with no place to stay. Luckily, they are finally ready to have their own house, and their nights of shivering in the octagonal pig pen where her family used to stay are over. But now, Elva experiences something worse than the segregation she has encountered at school. When she befriends a young white girl named Kit, she realizes how different their cultures are. Kit has her own pony and lives in a house filled with soft carpet, furniture, and toys. She even has her own bed. Elva realizes that she and the white families are very, very different. She realizes just how poor her family truly is. She rarely receives attention from anyone in her family and has been called useless by her father for making silly mistakes. Elvas mother begrudgingly buys her a pink coat when she realizes how much her daughter longs to be like other children, but even still, Elva knows she will never be like some other children. She longs to feel cherished the way she did around Marielena but knows it wont happen again. Over the years, the family continues their travels until finally, Elvas father resolves to let the women stay in Texas while the family goes up to work during the summer. Meanwhile, Elva becomes increasingly more intelligent and makes it to the top of her classes. Along with the discovery of her academic abilities, she discovers boys when she has a mild crush on a boy in her class. She experiences a real crush, though, when she meets an older boy named Manuel at the fair. They get on several rides together and enjoy each others company for the short time. Elva recalls feeling exhilarated like she never has before and longs to have that feeling again when he is gone. Her sisters are discovering boys as well. Delia marries a young boy named Chale, and Delmira marries a dentist named Kal and moves to New York with him. During the summers, Elva goes to visit all of her siblings, staying with Delia and her babies in San Antonio, going to Wisconsin for her brothers, then journeying through New York with Delmira and experiencing all of the frivolous things she never got to as a child, like seeing Broadway shows and window shopping. She gets a job in a store and is allowed to keep the money, something her

father never allowed her older brothers to do. During that summer, she also meets a young boy who instantly becomes attracted to her. He invites her to go to the beach with him, but Delmira points out that she is much too tall for him, yet again making her feel cut off and alone. Back at school, she continues to succeed. She only goes on two dates during high school and doesnt have an active social life. Most of her time is dedicated to math and science though she loves books and writing more than anything, she knows that math is one subject where her race doesnt matter and where she will be allowed to excel. She does just as well each year, earning straight As. Her parents dont seem to care if her grades are high, but she does. During the summer, her father takes Elva and her mother on a trip to Mexico. Elva finally meets her fathers old friends and relatives and gets to see what life is really like in Mexico. The poverty is much worse than anything shes seen, but the environment brings her a sense of liberation shes never experienced before. When she leaves, she wonders about her identity as a Mexican-American. Finally, Elva graduates from high school as valedictorian. She delivers a speech that brings her father to tears, something unusual that she hasnt seen, and embarks alone, once again, on a journey into adulthood. To shield herself from the pains of loneliness in her childhood, she works for a corporation and devotes all of her time to making money, repressing the urge to think about who she truly is. She has gone from being a poor migrant child to a successful business woman. Still, something feels empty. When she begins to write the stories of her childhood and share them, she realizes that she and her father have some things to patch up. She travels to Texas and takes a long drive with him, telling him that she appreciates and loves him. He says that he loves her as well, something he has never told her previously. They make amends for the problems they had earlier on, and Elva takes him on a final trip to Mexico before he dies. Years later, she takes her son to the farms in Minnesota to show him what shes been through. She learns the story of the migrant workers and how they came to work there, finding out that there are hardly any left. Realizing that she can no longer deny her childhood, she

accepts it and begins the journey of discovering herself and finding out who she truly is, a female Mexican writer and a migrant child at heart. While Elvas story is a unique one of poverty and growing up without all of the things that others are so blessed to have, it shows that all children grow up the same way. She experiences all of the same things that other girls do loneliness, the fear of inadequacy, curiosity, love, pain, and hope. Even though her physical experiences are different from privileged childrens, her feelings are the same as those of any person. Her story shows that no matter where they come from or what theyve been through, all people are the same, deep down. All children encounter times where they feel cut off from everyone else or misunderstood. All children feel like outcasts at some point, whether in school or at home. And all children want nothing more than to be loved and wanted, as Elva did when she was a child. The bravery with which she handled all of lifes challenges shows that even in the most painful situations, it is possible not only to survive but to succeed. Her story also shows, however, a darker side to growing up the realization that happiness is often out of reach, and some things will never be easy. Elvas long-term loneliness leaves scars in her soul that follow her into her adult life. Even when she is successful, she feels lonelier than ever. This shows that life is never easy for anyone. Everyone will have their own struggles overcome whether they grow up as a poor migrant worker or in a privileged home, there will be times in their lives that are not easy and may seem endlessly difficult. But her story brings a strange feeling of comfort and reassurance to every reader, reminding them that they are normal for thinking the things theyve thought and feeling the things theyve felt. Even though Elvas situation is different from what most people who read her book have experienced, all of her childhood stories, whether theyre fond or shameful, are relatable in some way and make the reader feel connected to her. Her words show that we dont have to be afraid of who we are, no matter what that means; whether we grew up poor or privileged, we can all find situations in our lives where weve felt exactly like Elva and where we, too, have longed to find some sense of purpose or identity in the chaotic world.