Rising Above Hard Times

Esperanza Rising

by Pam Munoz Ryan

I was fortunate enough to hear author Pam Munoz Ryan speak to a group of middle school students at the Fort Worth Public library this spring. I was familiar with the author prior to this event, but hadn’t read her works. Esperanza Rising is actually based on the experiences of Ryan’s grandmother, who emigrated to California from Mexico during the Dust Bowl years. Knowing this as I picked up the book made it all the more fascinating to read.

Summary

Esperanza Ortega leads a life of privilege in 1930s Mexico. Her father owns acres and acres of land on which grapes are harvested for wine. However, when bandits kill her father and then burn her home to the ground, Esperanza and her mother are forced to flee to California. They do so with the help and guidance of the friends who used to work their land, friends and workers who are now their equals. The group ends up in the San Joaquin valley, where they live at a labor camp and go work in the fields.

Even before they arrive in California, Esperanza is seeing the ways in which her life is morphing into something she has never known. She no longer can expect someone to wash her hair when she bathes, or prepare meals for her and her mother. Everyone is on the same level, and she must learn to work, especially since work means earning the money to bring her grandmother, who stayed behind in Mexico, to California. Esperanza learns to cook, clean, help in the fields, and take care of others. She also plays witness to the labor issues of 1930s California, and finds herself in the middle of the debates that arrive in Depression-era politics. Esperanza grows wise beyond her years during her struggles to help her family, and the smart, hardened girl at the end of the story shows a maturity that far exceeds who she would have been without these experiences.

Worth Staying Up Past Bedtime?

I definitely gave up some good sleeping hours to read a few more pages of this book. Esperanza is a wonderfully inspiring character, and the pain and suffering she experiences, along with the fierce sense of love for her family and motivation to help them, are tangible throughout. Even during the moments of snobbery she portrays during her adjustment to life without excess privileges, she is endearing. This book will resonate with young girls in particular, as well as anyone who has experienced hardships in life.

Reviews and Recognition

-Winner of the 2002 Pura Belpre Award, which recognizes a Latino/Latina writer whose work best portrays, affirms and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth.

Set during the Great Depression, the story weaves cultural, economic, and political unrest into Esperanza's poignant tale of growing up: she witnesses strikes, government sweeps, and deep injustice while finding strength and love in her family and romance with a childhood friend. The symbolism is heavy-handed, as when Esperanza ominously pricks her finger on a rose thorne just before her father is killed. But Ryan writes movingly in clear, poetic language that children will sink into, and the books offers excellent opportunities for discussion and curriculum support. - Gillian Engberg, Booklist