Esperanza Rising
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 Original Scholastic book cover | |
| Author | Pam Muñoz Ryan |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Joe Cepeda |
| Cover artist | Pam Muñoz Ryan |
| Language | English/Spanish |
| Genre | Historical fiction |
| Published | 2000 (Scholastic) |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 259 |
| ISBN | 0-439-12041-1 |
| OCLC | 43487323 |
| LC Class | PZ7.R9553 Es 2000 |
Esperanza Rising is a young adult historical fiction novel written by Mexican-American author Pam Muñoz Ryan and released by Scholastic Press on March 27, 2000.[1] The novel focuses on Esperanza, the only daughter of wealthy Mexican parents Sixto and Ramona, and follows the events that occur after her father's murder. Esperanza, her mother, and their former household servants flee to California with no money during the Great Depression, where they find low-paying agricultural work.
Esperanza Ortega, the daughter of wealthy landowners, lives in Aguascalientes, Mexico, in 1930 on her family's ranch with her mother, her father, grandmother, and servants.
The day before Esperanza's 13th birthday, her father is murdered while working on the ranch. At her birthday party, she receives a doll from him. It was her last gift from him. Her step-uncle Luis reveals that he now owns their land. He offers to continue to care for them and their ranch if Esperanza's mother, Ramona, will marry him. When she refuses, he burns down the ranch. Esperanza's grandmother, Abuelita, is injured during the fire and is sent to a convent where she can recover. Esperanza and the rest of her family decide to flee to the United States with their former servants. When Esperanza's family arrives in the United States, which is currently in the grip of the Great Depression, they settle in a farm camp in Arvin, California. Esperanza struggles to adjust to her new life.
In a dust storm, Ramona contracts Valley fever, and the doctors are unsure if she will survive. Esperanza, desperate for money to support herself and pay her mother's medical bills, takes work on the farm camp despite being underage. She stockpiles money orders in the hopes of one day sending them to Abuelita and allowing her to travel to the state of Oklahoma.
Tensions rise in the camp as migrants from Oklahoma flee the Dust Bowl and look for work in California. Some workers go on strike to try to improve working conditions. Following a massive demonstration by the strikers, the farm owners call immigration officials to round up and deport the demonstrators. However, many of the people deported were natural-born American citizens who have never been to Mexico. Esperanza is distressed and has an argument with Miguel, the son of her former servant, because of this event. The next day, they find that Miguel has left to seek work in Northern California.
When Ramona recovers from her illness, Esperanza proudly goes to show her mother the money orders she saved, only to discover that they are missing; Miguel took them when he left. However, Miguel used them to secretly travel to Mexico and retrieve Abuelita.
The book ends on the day of Esperanza's 14th birthday, and Esperanza has finally learned to be grateful for what she has: her family reunited, friends who love her, and most of all: hope. (Esperanza means "hope" in Spanish.)
Characters
- Esperanza Ortega: The protagonist, the 13-year-old daughter of wealthy Mexican landowners, who spends most of the novel living in poverty in California.
- Miguel Lopez: The son of the Ortegas' servants; Esperanza's best friend.
- Ramona Ortega: Esperanza's mother, Sixto's wife, and Abuelita's daughter. She is grateful for what she has, and tries to get Esperanza to be more grateful.
- Sixto Ortega: Esperanza's father, Ramona's husband, Abuelita's son-in-law and Tio Luis' stepbrother.
- Abuelita: Esperanza's grandmother, Ramona's mother, and Sixto's mother-in-law.
- Tio Luis: Esperanza's step-uncle, Sixto's stepbrother and Ramona's stepbrother-in-law who tries to marry her after Sixto's death. He burns down the house after she rejects him.
- Tio Marco: Tio Luis's brother, and Sixto Ortegas' stepbrother.
