Despite their hopes of finding a better opportunity, what they found in the San Joaquin Delta was racial discrimination and horrible labor conditions that treated them as second class citizens.

The author describes the daily life of Filipina/os between the 1930s and World War II, paying particular attention to the role of women and religion in community formation.

Due to a skewed sex ratio, women were considered valuable and they took advantage of the situation to alter the restrictive traditional gender roles.

Their racial status ameliorated due to their military service in World War II and the removal of Japanese Americans into concentration camps.

It provides insightful analysis to those interested in not only histories of Filipino/a American or California in the twentieth century but also immigration, gender, race, labor, activism, and colonialism.

4) is considered a valuable addition because previous research did not pay much attention to women's contribution to community formation in Stockton in the early twentieth century.

[5][6] The extensive use of oral histories, personal stories, and photographs enrich her historical analysis as it sheds light on Filipina/o Americans' contribution to both California's agricultural development and labor movements.