Module 5: Esperanza Rising

Summary: Esperanza is a young wealthy Mexican girl who is raised on a ranch in Aguascalientes. Her parents dote on her, and she is supremely happy. Tragedy strikes early in the novel when Esperanza's father is brutally murdered by bandits, and her scheming uncle tries to force her mother to marry him. when she refuses, he burns the ranch. The only hope Esperanza and her mother have is to accompany their former servants to America, where promises of work in California have drawn many thousands of other refugees from all parts of the United States and Mexico. Unfortunately, the Dust Bowl victims and the Mexican nationals are trapped. They have no money, and there are few jobs. The owners of the land in California keep wages as low as they can by pitting starving men and women against each other. Esperanza goes through an utter transformation, from spoiled rich girl to hard-working, caring young woman who puts others before herself.

Ryan, P. M. (2002). Esperanza rising. New York, NY: Blue Sky Press.

My Impressions: Esperanza is a plucky heroine. Even though she is spoiled, I never got the feeling she was ungrateful for her lot in life. She is keenly aware of the separation between her and the other classes, and while living in penury is challenging, Esperanza is willing to learn. Is it hard? Sure. Is her life easy once she adapts? No. Esperanza is a hard-working, willing learner. There really is a small adjustment period between her leaving Mexico and her resolve to make the best of her new life. This actually speaks volumes to Esperanza's upbringing. Her parents, while loving and indulgent, instilled proper values in their daughter, which makes her adjustment to life in a migrant camp perhaps a little easier than it would be otherwise. Even so, it doesn't detract from the disparity of Esperanza's existence before and after her father's murder.

 Reviews:

"Ryan poetically conveys Esperanza's ties to the land by crafting her story to the rhythms of the seasons. Each chapter's title takes its name from the fruits Esperanza and her countrymen harvest, firs in Aguascalientes, then in California's San Joaquin Valley. Ryan fluidly juxtaposes world events...with one family's will to survive - while introducing readers to Spanish words and Mexican customs. Readers will be swept up by vivid descriptions of California dust storms or by the police crackdown on a labor strike....Ryan delivers subtle metaphors via Abuelita's pearl's of wisdom, and not until story's end will readers recognize how carefully they have been strung. Ages 9-14." - Publisher's Weekly.

Esperanza rising. (September 11, 2000). Publisher's Weekly. Retrieved on September 26, 2011, from http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-439-12041-8.


"Esperanza's struggles begin amidst class unrest in post-revolutionary Mexico and intersect with labor strikes in the United States, which serve to illustrate the time period's prevailing hostility toward people of Mexican descent. In one of the more glaring injustices she witnesses, striking workers, who were born American citizens and have never set foot on Mexican soil, are loaded onto buses for deportation. Through it all, Esperanza is transformed from a sheltered aristocrat into someone who can take care of herself and others. Although her material wealth is not restored in the end, the way it is for Sara Crewe [of Frances Hodgson Burnett's A Little Princess], she is rich in family, friends, and esperanza — the Spanish word for hope." -- Horn Book

 Happermann, C. M. (2001). Esperanza Rising. Horn Book Magazine, 77(1), 96.


Uses in the Library:

A perfect book for display in Hispanic Heritage Month.

It could also be used in a book club that learns to crochet as Esperanza does as they listen to someone read the book.