When Esperanza and Mama are forced to flee to the bountiful region of Aguascalientes, Mexico, to a Mexican farm labor camp in California, they must adjust to a life without fancy dresses adn servants they were accustomed to on Rancho de las Rosas. Now they must confront the challenges of hard work, acceptance by their own people, and economic difficulties brought on by the Great Depression. When Mama falls ill and a strike for better working conditions threatens to uproot their new life, Esperanza must relinquish her hold on the past learn to embrace a future ripe with the riches of family and community.
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- ISBN: 9780439120418
- Author: Ryan, Pam Munoz
- Published: 2000 , Scholastic Press
- Themes: Difficult decisions, Hispanic, Immigrant family
- Descriptors: Historical Fiction, Intermediate (ages 9-14), United States
- No. of pages: 262
This book is a beautifully written, inspirational story. The reader is immediately drawn into Esperanza’s world of privilege and then of hardship. The story is made all the more powerful through the incredibly strong bonds the characters have with each other. The importance of family and community in Latino culture is showcased as the characters work together to survive in the labor camps of depression-era California. The richness of figurative language and symbolic imagery in Esperanza Rising make this book excellent for a literature curriculum. Additionally, the portrayal of the socio-economic and political climate of that point in history, make this novel an excellent way to enhance a social studies curriculum.
This is great literary work dealing with change. Esperanza is forced to mature. The life she once knew is gone and she struggles with ‘culture shock’ on ‘the other side of the river.’ She doesn’t see her situation as permanent, but that is the reality of the situatuion. The harsh conditions of immigrant farm work force her to grow into a less egocentric and more responsible member of her family. She is able to appreciate the intangible gifts that she has been surrounded by all along.