1 online resource (streaming video file) (20 min.)
Summary
James (13) lives in the remote, oil-boom town of White Earth, ND with his father. Unable to enroll in the local school, he spends his days wandering the town and playing video games while his father works long hours for an oil service company. Leevi (11) is a 5th-grader from nearby Stanley. Her family has lived in North Dakota for generations and while they benefitting economically from the boom by leasing land rights to oil companies, they have strong reservations about the changes it is bringing to their beloved home. Elena (11) is a new arrival in Leevi's 5th grade class. She and her family are Mexican immigrants that fled economic hardship in California's central valley so Elena's father could seek oil work. Rather than separate the family, Elena's mother, Flor, insisted that they all move to North Dakota where the family of five shares cramped living quarters in an RV with a single bedroom. Each story intertwines with the others intimately exploring themes of childhood, family, immigration, community, the environment, and the price of the American Dream
