 |
|
| Author | Pam Muñoz Ryan |
|---|---|
| Country | Mexico |
| Publisher | Scholastic Press |
| Publication date | 2000 |
| Media type | Print (paperback) |
| Pages | 261 |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-439-12041-1 |
Esperanza Rising is a 2000 novel by Pam Muñoz Ryan. Set during the time of the American Great Depression, it examines the plight of Mexicans struggling to eke out a place in the United States, and also focuses on cultural issues of the characters as they learn to look forward to the future rather than look back on a long gone past. Ryan has stated that the novel is inspired by the recollections her grandmother used to tell her about her childhood of luxury and her later experiences with hardship and endurance in California.[1]
Summary
Esperanza Rising tells the growing-up story of the young and spoiled Mexican girl, Esperanza Ortega. She happily lives on her wealthy family's estate in the Mexican state of Aguascalientes, surrounded by fancy dresses and servants. But due to family jealousy, her father is murdered, her home is burned to the ground and she and her mother have two options: her mother marries Esperanza's devious uncle, Tío Luis and Esperanza gets sent to a boarding school in another city, or they escape to the United States. They choose to flee to California to live as migrant workers on a labour camp. Here Esperanza has a difficult time confronting the reality that she is no longer rich, and has a hard time adjusting to the difficult work in the camps. In addition to poverty, Esperanza must also deal with: people in the camps, resentful of being underpaid, go on a strike, and also her mother falling ill with valley fever (later pneumonia). All is not bleak, however. True to the meaning of Esperanza's name (Esperanza in Spanish means "hope"), her situation is also brightened with newfound friends, including an optimistic girl named Isabel and a boy named Miguel. She also learns to move on from the past, giving her last possession from her old life, a doll, to Isabel, and to accept her new future paths ahead of her. She learns to follow the sayings that her grandmother and Papa tell her; "Do not ever be afraid to start over," and; "wait a little while and the fruit will fall in to your hand." Sayings shown in the book to be true. She is faced with anguish and grief, as well as her first job working as a babysitter. Helped by the little girl named Isabel, she learns to work and deal with her life.
