Book #3 - Esperanza Rising

Title: Esperanza Rising

Author: Pam Munoz Ryan

Illustrator: Joe Capeda

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Date of Publication: 2000

Genre: Historical Fiction

Readability Lexile: 750L

"Our land is alive, Esperanza..."

Summary

The story begins with a 6 year old Esperanza and the vineyards of El Rancho de las Rosas, the land that she, her mother and father, and her grandmother call home in Mexico. Most of the story takes place 6 years later when Esperanza is 12 years old. When tragedy strikes this close-knit and wealthy family Esperanza and her mother are forced to flee Mexico for America. Luckily, a family of servants from the Rancho de las Rosas travel with them to help with the long and dangerous journey to California. Esperanza and her mother must leave behind all of their possessions, their beloved grandmother, and their comfortable way of life in order to stay together and maintain their safety.

When Esperanza and her mother finally make it to American they are greeted with harsh feelings from their own people and economic struggle due to the Great Depression that is hitting the United States. Esperanza and her mother had never had to perform manual labor in all of their lives and now find themselves on a fruit and vegetable plantation where everyone works so everyone can survive. 


Throughout the changing seasons and crop rotation, Esperanza struggles with many issues including racism, loss of loved ones, the physical and mental strain of living in poor conditions, and her own selfishness and attitudes towards people who are different from her. This young girl must learn to work together with those around her, have a positive attitude when things look grim, and look toward the future even when past tragedies consume her.

Characteristics of High Quality Children's Literature:

I really enjoyed reading this book. I thought the plot was believable and complex enough so that it was interesting but still understandable. The characters were authentic in personality, relationship, and dialogue. They grew and developed throughout the story as a real person would in the span of a year. One is able to see the strengths and weaknesses of the characters and watch them go through ups and downs as the plot develops. The dialogue fits well with each character, for example Esperanza's word choice and dialogue style change from the beginning of the story to the end of the story; which it should because her character changes from beginning to end. The author must have done her research because the setting fits very well with the place and time of the story. There are so many themes throughout this story and I feel that all of them are worthwhile and important to the reader to understand. 

This book fits well with its recommended age group's cognitive development because in upper elementary children begin to develop an understanding of the chronological ordering of events therefore a historical fiction book like Esperanza Rising can help show students how events and dates are arranged.

Upper Elementary aged children also begin to develop racial attitudes therefore this novel would be an excellent choice to harbor social development because it provides a point of view that may be racially different from theirs and includes many of the issues that are attached to race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. 

Characterization:

This story spans just one year of the life of its main character, Esperanza Ortega. Esperanza changes immensely from the selfish, high maintenance young girl at the beginning of the novel to a compassionate, positive, hardworking young woman at the end of the novel. The author does an excellent job of creating a character that clearly has strengths and weaknesses, goes through triumphs and adversity, and develops in many ways throughout the story. 

Conflict: 
The conflict in this story is what makes it what it is. Esperanza, being the main character, is definitely involved with the most tension throughout the story. She struggles with her mother and grandmother, her friend, Miguel, her mean uncles, and the other people in the plantation camp. Most of all, however, she struggles with herself. Esperanza goes through so many difficult situations in a single year, it is hard for many of us to imagine. She must keep herself going when everything around her is falling apart. Therefore, she is at constant conflict with herself to become something that, at the beginning of the story, she is not; a strong, hardworking young woman who will do anything to keep her family together. 


Setting:

The setting is another element of the story that really adds to its realness. The story begins on the rich, beautiful land of Rancho de la Rosas where Esperanza has little to worry about other than her quinceanera. Here, we can tell just by the setting that Esperanza and her family are wealthy and happy. Later, when Esperanza and her mother are at the plantation camp, where the small shack has little space for the many people who need to live there, we can see that this is a hard, unforgiving place to live. By comparing the two main settings of this story we can see also how the characters must change in order to adapt to the setting. 

Illustrations:
There is only one illustration for this book, the front cover. I can recall seeing this book in book stores or at libraries years ago and just by the cover I could tell it would be a book I would like to read. On the cover you see a pretty young girl in a yellow dress with her eyes closed. She looks as though the wind is carrying her off the ground into the sky. In the background you see a blue sky, a setting/rising sun, mountains, and fields with green crops growing. From her hands, red roses are falling back to the ground. The part of this picture that I like the most is the young girl's hair. It is long and black and is blowing in the wind. I think this picture does a nice job of drawing the reader in and also to highlight the title. Esperanza Rising would be a perfect title for this painting.

Interest Level:
I think this book would interest 12 year old girls because that is who the main character is. I feel that students anywhere from 8 to 15 and on would enjoy this book. The text is meant for grades 6 though 8 according to Scholastic.com. I do think that boys would enjoy this book if you could get them started and interested in it. This book would make an excellent read aloud and could help spark an interest in historical fiction books for boys and girls. I would also recommend this books for students who likes the Little House series. Though the Little House books and Esperanza Rising are set in very different times and have very different characters, I feel they have many similarities in genre and style. 

Mini-Lesson Ideas:
The themes in the book can be very meaningful to many students. I think this book could be tied to any one of them. Some examples are the importance of family, positive thinking, determination and hard work, discrimination and racial inequality, and the loss of loved ones. September-October is considered Hispanic History Month. This book would be a great read aloud to do during this time and then talk about the issues that the people in the book go though and how it connect to race.