A So Called Vacation — Genaro Gonzalez

Brothers Gabriel and Gustavo are high school students, born and raised in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. When their father suggests they spend the summer in California doing field work to earn extra money, the boys are horrified. The idea of picking fruits and vegetables -- hard labor typically associated with undocumented immigrants -- is totally humiliating. But their father thinks working in the fields will be good for his children. After all, the experience didn't hurt him when he was a kid.
Gustavo, heading into his senior year, doesn't want to be separated from his girlfriend. And Gabriel is simply not interested in spending the summer doing back-breaking labor. It's only when the promise of visiting Disneyland, after working the fields, is offered that they ultimately agree to the “vacation.”
Before long the family finds itself in a migrant camp, living in a shack with no electricity or bathroom. Toiling in the fields by day and learning their way around town on their off time, the family members experience the prejudice often directed at recent immigrants.
Genaro González blends the ageless theme of fathers and sons at odds with a contemporary issue weighing on many minds.