gwen mansfield

In 1962, twelve-year-old Ellen Merrill finds herself in the midst of a revelation: the townsfolk of Hayford, Oregon live with two sets of standards--one for the Anglos and one for the Mexicans. "It was the only time I ever heard from God. 'Prejudice demands an age of accountability--how old are you?' It was the weirdest thing. His voice sounded just like Johnny Cash, but his vocab reeked like someone studying way too hard for the SATs." Through the next decade of her life Ellen chases equality, and in spite of her parents and the heritage of a town's racism, she catches glimpses of justice.

Beneath the most successful pear industry in the nation, blight grows and plucks at the lives of the residents in the Rogue River Valley. Ellen's journey to expose the twisted mores of the quiet town links her to the migrant families. Through a spider web of orchard back roads, Ellen discovers a boarded up experiment station, formerly used to provide scientific research to aid the orchard economy. She spies on the migrants' quarters adjoining the orchards. Befriended by three Mexican grannies, she meets a grandson, Juan. Ellen imbeds herself in lies and deception to keep her secret life hidden from an intolerant family and town, while her understanding of humanity expands.

Juan and Ellen connect with union workers for Cesar Chavez, and Ellen arranges a covert meeting at the experiment station, inviting a Chavez spokeswoman to initiate the groundwork for a union. The boldness of Ellen's experimentation with an unfamiliar culture grows and in March of 1966, after Chavez announces his famous 340 mile march from Delano on behalf of the Farm Workers' Union, Ellen and Juan join the marchers.

Finally, her voice for migrant rights collides directly with the townsfolk and her commitment to marriage with Juan shakes a bigoted town, bringing felony charges against him that he did not commit and placing Ellen and Juan in a flight for their lives.

Experiment Station Road, a quirky but poignant coming-of-age story invites the reader through a decade of discovery with Ellen Merrill as she slams into community prejudice, advocates with Cesar Chavez and conceals a clandestine but sweet romance. Ellen's revelation is clear: the value of a solo voice lifted in a community of noise shakes up the world and allows the experiment to continue.