Summary:
This story follows a family just after the Mexican
Revolution. Esperanza has grown up in a
wealthy family on ranch. Unfortunately,
her father is killed while working on their ranch and her evil uncle wants to
take over the family. Her mother has the
choice of marrying him or taking Esperanza and fleeing. They begin the journey
to the Unites States with a few of their loyal servants. Esperanza’s grandmother must be left
behind. Once the family makes it to the
US they find work on a farm. Esperanza
quickly learns how mistreated the Mexican people are and her mother falls
ill. Esperanza believes that if she can
get her grandmother to the US, that their lives will improve. She begins to save for her grandmothers trip. She discovers her money is stolen and she’s
sure Miguel(one of the loyal servants) took it to look for work up north. Soon, Miguel shows back up with a surprise –
he didn’t go to look for work, he went to get Esperanza’s grandmother. Esperanza feels hopeful and begins to dream
of learning English, having a family, and having a home.
APA Reference:
Ryan, P. (2000). Esperanza
rising. New York: Scholastic Press.
Impression:
This book felt like reading Cinderella only in reverse
order. I liked watching Esperanza grow
and change as a character. The message
about the ideas of family and hard work were pleasant, but somewhat
predictable. I felt like the message
regarding immigration was well presented and appropriate for the targeted age
group.
Professional Review:
“At times Esperanza Rising, although it takes place in Depression-era
Mexico and the United States instead of Victorian England, seems a dead ringer
for Frances Hodgson Burnett's A Little Princess. Both are dramatic
riches-to-rags stories about girls forced to trade fancy dolls and dresses for
hard work and ill-fitting hand-me-downs after their beloved fathers die.
Thirteen-year-old Esperanza even
possesses a touch of Sara Crewe's romantic spirit. The daughter of an affluent
Mexican rancher, she had been taught by her father to believe that the
"land is alive," that she could lie down beneath the arbors in her
family's vineyards, press her ear to the ground, and hear a heart beat. Yet can
this still hold true for Esperanza when
she no longer reigns as queen of the harvest but labors in the fields of a
foreign country, picking grapes on someone else's land for pennies an hour? The
transition does net come easily for her, and thus her story ultimately diverges
from The Little Princess's fairytale script to become a poignant look at the
realities of immigration. Political as well as personal history inform the
sometimes florid narrative (loosely based, we are told in an afterword, on the
experiences of the author's grandmother). Esperanza's struggles
begin amidst class unrest in post-revolutionary Mexico and intersect with labor
strikes in the United States, which serve to illustrate the time period's
prevailing hostility toward people of Mexican descent. In one of the more
glaring injustices she witnesses, striking workers, who were born American
citizens and have never set foot on Mexican soil, are loaded onto buses for
deportation. Through it all, Esperanza is
transformed from a sheltered aristocrat into someone who can take care of
herself and others. Although her material wealth is not restored in the end,
the way it is for Sara Crewe, she is rich in family, friends, and esperanza —
the Spanish word for hope.”
~~~~~~~~
By Christine M. Heppermann
Hepperman, C.M. (2001).
Esperanza rising. Horn Book Magazine, 77(1), 96.
Library Use:
This book could be used in a few ways but I would pair it
with research into current events that are related. Since my campus is in South Texas, the topic
of immigration is relevant and important to students here. They could use the databases to search for
articles regarding immigration, deportation, migrant workers rights and the
like.
No comments:
Post a Comment