Fertile Soil: Stories of the California Dream

The eleven stories in this collection bring to life every day, hard-working Californians who demonstrate the resilience of the human spirit. Light and dark sides of contemporary society emerge as the reader meets:*a teenager who tries to survive and complete her school work even though her father frequently locks her out of their apartment *a minimum wage earner who needs three jobs to support her family and battle the shrinking value of her dollar in the San Francisco Bay Area*an elementary school principal who provides leadership for his impoverished Central Valley neighborhood beset by immigration tensions*a suburban working mom forced to add cancer treatments to her busy schedule*a homeless man and a finance executive whose lives intersect on the streets of downtown LA*two little boys who confront wildlife danger as they walk home from school The final five stories spin a loosely connected thread from Mexican and Gold Rush era pioneers to their descendants at the development of Silicon Valley and on to the economic disparities Californians face today. The entire collection portrays the state’s innovative residents struggling with complex issues, amidst its quintessential landscape, a never-ending target for dreamers.