Esperanza Rising

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful book!
Review: This book, Esperanza Rising, was a very wonderful book about a young girl living in Mexico who has everything and then suddenly loses it all due to her father's untimely death. Esperanza and her mother must go live on a work camp in California and begin a new life there, much different from there old life of many riches. Find out what problems Esperanza and her mother must face in California. Definetly a page turner! I would definetly recommend this book, Esperanza Rising.

Rating:
Summary: A gorgeous novel
Review: This book is really, really wonderful, extraordinary, and very real. It brings alive the horror of labor and the sadness of life. I nearly cried during some parts of this book.
The story is about Esperanza, or Anza, who is a rich thirteen-year-old, living on her father's El Rancho de las Rosas, which grows grapes and other fruits. Her life is happy and filled with pleasures, with her mother, father and grandmother as companions.
One day, during an inspection of fence posts, her father does not return. Her family waits for hours, and it turns out he was killed by bandits.
Anza's greedy uncles arrive, one the town mayor and the other the town banker. In Anza's father's will, he left the home to Anza and her mother, yet the ranch to her uncles. One of the uncles offer to buy the home, yet Anza's mother refuses.
The house is burned down by a mysterious fire.
Anza's uncle offers marriage to Anza's mother, knowing the town respects her, and Anza's mother accepts. Yet, there is a plan. During the dead of night, Anza and her mother escape from Mexico to California, in the labor camps to work.
Anza is devastated and her whole world has been twisted. The life in the labor camps (picking and working with fruits and vegetables) is harsh and Anza's mother becomes very sick. After a while, Anza realizes that her mother needs her grandmother, who they left behind in Mexico, and works her heart out to pay for her grandmother's trip here.
Life improves somewhat, and the end is for you to find out. But this novel is totally gorgeous and left me pining for more. READ it!

Rating:
Summary: WOW!
Review: This book is one of the best books I've ever read!! It had a lot of details and you could really picture the characters and all that happens. I also like the fact that this book has some Spanish words included in it.

This book is about a young girl, Esperanza, about 12 years old that lives on a ranch called El Rancho de las Rosas, or The Ranch of the Roses. The main characters are Esperanza, her Mother, her Father, her Grandma, and the some of the workers: Miguel, Hortensia, Isabel, and Alfonso. Esperanza and her mother had to unfortunately leave their home and go to California to work. There they have to face hard work and labor that they are not used to because their servants usually do it for them. There her mother, and soon Esperanza, have to learn to work in the fields, but for now Esperanza learns how to watch the babies, dress, feed, and "clean up" after them. They do not have to face this alone; they have some help from their former servants and new friends. Esperanza has to overcome many obstacles along the way but she manages to get through it all despite all the depression and the taunting, teasing, and humiliation from another worker that she dose not like, Marta.

This book is written by Pam Munoz Ryan who has also written a book called Riding Freedom, which I have read and is an excellent book. If you have time you should read that book too!!

Rating:
Summary: Esperanza Rising Rises Above the Rest
Review: Esperanza Rising, by Pam Munoz Ryan, is a story of love and hope and adaptation amidst extreme despair. It is 1930. Esperanza lives a rich and privileged life with her parents, her abuelita and servants on their vineyard, El Rancho de las Rosas, in lush Aguascalientes, Mexico. She is a beloved only child and deeply loved by her family and workers on their ranch. Their family is well respected and kind to all around them. On the eve of Esperanza's thirteenth birthday and of the grand fiesta celebrating the bountiful harvest, Esperanza's father is killed by bandits. Then their elegant home is burned down under suspicious circumstances. Esperanza's corrupt and greedy uncles force Esperanza and her mother to secretly flee the rancho and head across the border to California. Abuelita is forced to stay behind because of injuries, intending to meet up with her family later in California (which she does). Esperanza and her mother are suddenly penniless, leaving with only what they could carry in a small suitcase. They flee Mexico with their loyal friends-- housekeeper Hortensia, field boss Alfonso, and their son Miguel, to seek a better life in California with Alfonso's brother. Arriving in the San Joaquin Valley, Esperanza faces a difficult life, one much different from her life in Mexico. She and her mother must live with another family in a small cabin at the Mexican camp. While her mother works in the fields, Esperanza stays back at the camp to take care of the other family's babies. It is extremely hard work for everyone, especially Esperanza, who was used to such a privileged life in Mexico. At first, she rebels, insisting that she will one day have back all that she has lost. When her mother becomes ill with Valley Fever, Esperanza must go out and work in the fields to support her family. It is the Great Depression, and there is little money for food and doctors. It is during this time that Esperanza experiences labor strikes, prejudice, unfairness, and fear as she struggles to survive. However, over time, and with many struggles behind her, Esperanza rises to the occasion and accepts her life as it is and looks ahead with esperanza--hope. Ryan's second novel (her first was Riding Freedom) is a beautifully told tale, peppered with Spanish words and expressions. This engaging novel is too good to put down and sure to be loved by many a young reader. It makes a wonderful read-aloud. In the Author's Note at the end of the book, we learn that this novel is loosely based on Ryan's grandmother's experiences in migrant camps in the 1930s. Life in those camps is vividly described and authentically portrayed. This novel is a wonderful stepping-off point for studying post-revolutionary Mexico, the Depression, migrant camps, and Mexican Repatriation and the Deportation Act.

Rating:
Summary: A welcome addition to the canon of children's literature -
Review: I was so glad to find this book! There are still too few *good* books in the juvenile literature section of the bookstore that have Native American, Latina/o, African American, or Asian American protagonists, and that tell believable, thoughtful stories reflecting the history, culture, and social realities of those protagonists. Pam Muñoz Ryan's book is a clear-eyed, engrossing story of a Mexican immigrant girl who comes to work in the fields of Southern California in the early 1930s after her well-to-do life in Aguascalientes falls apart.

The novel invokes the history and politics of the time, touching on labor organizing, the threat of deportation, the ways that language and race divided workers even as the company farm camp created new kinds of community.

There aren't many adult books in Chicano history or literature who tell this sort of immigrant story as vividly as this one does. (Although, if you want to read more, check out George Sánchez's Becoming Mexican American; Camille Guerin-Gonzáles' Mexican Workers, American Dreams; and Helena María Viramontes' Under the Feet of Jesus.) It's a beautiful coming-of-age story of a girl who loses much but also finds her own inner strength.

Rating:
Summary: WOW! This is a touching book!
Review: I must say that I didn't really like Riding Freedom that much so I wasn't going to read this book, but then I looked at the inside and I decided I would give it a try. Boy, was I glad I didn't put it down! This book starts out with Esparanza being a rich girl living in Mexico and all of a sudden all of her luck changes. Her father is killed by robbers and her evil uncle who happens to be mayor says that Esparanza's land is all theirs. He makes his mother take his hand in marriage, but they obviously think differently because they escape from Mexico and go with their house servants. She moves to a desert land in California and she has to do common servant work. At first Esparanza is torn and she says she can never be happy working like that, but Esparanza learns from the people she lives with and especially a kind boy named Miguel. This book may sound very emotional, but it's much more! If you need a NICE book to read, then you better read this!

Rating:
Summary: A POIGNANT STORY THOUGHTFULLY READ
Review: With a story that parallels the actual experiences of her grandmother, Pam Munoz Ryan has fashioned a moving and inspirational tale. It is ably read by the talented Trini Alvarado.

Esperanza Ortega lived a privileged existence in Aguascacientes, Mexico during the early 1920s. Her luxurious family home was tended by servants, and she anticipated a lifetime of ease when she grew up and came to oversee El Rancho de las Rosas.

Her dream was shattered when Esperanza and her mother were forced to leave Mexico and migrate to a company owned farm labor camp in California. Now, not only were their days defined by drudgery but many of their own people did not accept them. All of this was exacerbated by the Great Depression and its attendant economic difficulties.

The plight of the migrant workers is vividly presented in this poignant novel so thoughtfully read by Ms. Alvarado.

Rating:
Summary: Esperanza Rises Above and Beyond!
Review: I loved this book. I sat down and read it in one sitting because I could not wait to find out what happens to Esperanza! It is a book that goes beyond a great cultural kid's book. It shows the spirit and determination of people that came to the USA for a better life, and in many cases, like our main character actually ends up in worse situations. But, as many of those immigrants did she rises above the deplorable circumstances and makes a life for herself. A feel good book for all ages.

Rating:
Summary: This is a story that needs to be told
Review: Pam Munoz Ryan's ancestors lived this story, and she has done a great service to write it with such an authentic voice. She has presented a fictionalized account of her own grandmother's fall from wealth and privilege in the aftermath of the revolution in Mexico as she immigrated to the United States to work in a Mexican farm labor camp during the Great Depression. Esperanza, the young protagonist, experiences loss, poverty, separation, prejudice, humiliation and fear on the road to her ultimate rise from the ashes in the manner of the mythical phoenix. Ryan does an excellent job of presenting the dilemma and danger of early attempts to improve the working conditions of the laborer during this period. She points out in the author's notes the grave injustices incurred by the Mexican Deportation Act, which exceeded relocations of the Japanese-Americans during the 2nd World War and of the Native Americans of the previous century. Many of these issues of prejudice and injustice persist today. Adults who enjoy this wonderful children's book should be sure to read "Rain of Gold," by Villasenor.

Rating:
Summary: A beautiful book, best read aloud.
Review: My daughter devoured Riding Freedom, mainly beause it was about horses. I loved it as it interested her in woman's suffrage, history and the independence and stuff that women needed (and need). We couldn't wait for Esperanza Rising and neither of us was disapppointed. This book is simply beautiful. A truly special book for a mother and daughter to read together. It chronicles Esperanza's journey from her storybook youth in Mexico to the reality of hard work, racism and classism faced by her and her mother when they are forced to flee to the United States. The mother is elegant, strong and a wonderful role model for Esperanza. Esperanza does not dissappoint her mother's expectations and becomes strong and vibrant in her own way. Once again, Pam Munoz Ryan made history for the young so interesting, my daughter didn't want to put the book down. In addition, the book is beautifully crafted. From the hills and valley's of Abuelita's blankets to the fruit which entitles each chapter, the symbolizm is not lost on the young reader and it is cherised by the adult.