Book Review: Esperanza Rising
My book is called Esperanza Rising and it was written by the author called Pam Munoz Ryan. This author lived in the States with her family but she is originally Spanish, Mexican, Basque, Italian, and Oklahoman. This book was published in the year 2000 by the Scholastic Press. It is classified as historical fiction and classic. Esperanza is a pampered little girl that lives in Aguascalientes and in a smaller area called Rancho de las Rosas, Mexico. In the beginning of the book her father takes her on a walk on the ranch and tells her to lie down and listen to the heartbeat of the Earth. Esperanza does, but she can't hear anything. On their way back to the ranch her father tells her she needs to listen harder. They have a very close relationship with one another. The day before Esperanza’s birthday, her father goes out to check on the ranch and on his way back he gets shot and killed by bandits. Esperanza and her mother are devastated. After the father's death Esperanza and her mother were confronted by his jealous brother, Uncle Tio, who wanted to marry Esperanza's mother and take over the ranch. Esperanza and her mother refused to, so Uncle Tio set the ranch house on fire. With the help of the former servants they fled to California to work at a migrant camp. They settled in a camp for Mexican migrant workers. Esperanza struggles with the hard labor and financial struggles brought on by the Great Depression. She also struggles with the lack of acceptance from other people in the camp. Their lives were nearly uprooted again when her mother got sick and a strike breaks out because of poor living and working conditions. Esperanza has to find a way to stay strong and rise above the struggles, because their lives depend on her. Esperanza then gets a job working in the packing shed at camp, so she cannot only pay the bills, but also bring Aubuelita (grandma) and hope back to her family. I obtained this book from the school library. I knew this book from four years ago when my neighbour ordered books from America, she ordered this book as well and read them to their children. Since they all loved it, I wanted to read it as well and it never came to my head until just recently. This story takes place in the 1930 and 1935 in Rancho de las Rosas, Mexico and then in California. People in this time traveled to America to get better jobs, and so they could be treated better. Many of them were sent back to America due to the fact that they didn’t have a place to go once they got to America. Almost 1 million total people were sent back to Mexico. The main character is a young girl named Esperanza Ortega. She is a smart, pampered young girl. She is spoiled and has lack of education about simple skills such as cooking, cleaning and other house jobs at the beginning but soon catches up after the devastating incident.
The thing I enjoyed the most about reading this book is how Esperanza struggles at first of accepting the life of being poor but there seems to be hope in her that encourages her to save her life and also her mother. Even though she is only a teenager without a father and a sick mother, she tries her best to work, earn money and bring her grandmother to America which is quite a lot of hard work for a teenager her age, especially a girl. I loved this book! I think it is a terrific book to read to yourself or to read aloud because it is an exciting adventurous story filled with meanings. I think they have very interesting characters in this book, one different from the other which is why this is such a great book, because they all help each other survive. This is a book which makes me appreaciate where I am in this generation and how fortunate I am being here with my family and having a safe and caring home. The author explains all chapters very well that you can imagine yourself being into the characters shoes feeling how they feel. This is a book very obvious changes happen throughout the book, from the beginning to the end. I found it very meaning to the story that the girl’s name was Esperanza. I recommend this book to people in grade five and beyond. This book touches your heart and your feelings depends on the events happening in the chapters which is why it is so special heart-touching and unique. This makes other people become more aware of other people’s lives in the past and perhaps now too specially if you are Esperanza’s age, you would know how hard it is. I also recommend this book to people who are beginners in the language Spanish so that they could learn Spanish words specially the fruits.