Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Summary
This is the story of a girl named Esperanza. She lives a lavish comfy life in Aguascalientes, Mexico. Esperanza can have anything she wants just by asking for it. Her father is a wealthy landowner who spoils Esperanza because she is his only child. Unfortunately tensions still run high since the Mexican Revolution has ended. There is a lot of resentment from poor people to the landowners and Esperanza's father is tangled up with it. Her father is killed as he's working on his land and that leaves the land open for his evil brother to take over. Esperanza's mom is given the choice to marry this evil man or flee the country before he can catch them. So in that instance they choose to flew to America. Their they join a family friends company and work on their farm, hard labor. This style of life is nothing like the one that Esperanza is accustomed to. This is the first time that she is not waited on hand and foot. she has to do things for herself. She hates this life and complains non-stop but Esperanza's mom soon becomes ill and then reality hits hard for Esperanza as she realizes she is in charge of taking care of her family. She thinks the only thing that will make her other better is for her grandmother to come and joining them. Esperanza realizes it will take a lot of money she does not have, so she begins working pitiful jobs with horrid conditions. She then sees the Mexican workers rally up and strike for better payment. The strike has little success so Esperanza keeps going to work and eventually her pennies add up to the amount it would cost her Abuelita to come to America. Then as she goes to show her mom the money it is missing, her friend Miguel has stolen it in order to find better work up north. Soon enough though Miguel comes back along with Abuelita he had made the whole story up and wanted to surprise both Esperanza and her mother. Eventually with Abuelita there things begin to look up, Esperanza could actually see herself living and starting a family in this town once she's older. She is grateful for her family and will accept her new life so long as she gets to keep them in her life.
Evaluation
I think Esperanza rising offers a lot of value to readers. The story line especially with the current immigration climate we find ourselves in more than likely resonates with students or their families. I think it's important for all students to be able to find a likeness or some type of connection to the literature that teachers teach. I would definitely use Esperanza Rising in a middle school probably 7th grade classroom in order to teach themes such as family and what to do in the face of injustice.
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