Barrio Boy is a memoir by Ernesto Galarza that narrates the author’s journey from a small village in Mexico to a barrio in the United States. Barrio Boy follows the author from his birth in the small town of Jalcocotán in 1905 up until high school. Galarza, who went on to become a labor organizer, activist, and professor, situates his experience of immigration within larger socio-political factors in both Mexico and the United States, including the Mexican Revolution, the complexities of immigration and acculturation, and economic hardship.