Title: Esperanza Rising

Author: Pam Muñoz Ryan

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Copyright Date: 2000

Reading Level: ATOS 5.3

Interest Level (Age): 10-14

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Synopsis: Esperanza Ortega's life on El Rancho de las Rosas with her parents, Ramona and Sixto, couldn't be more perfect. The crop harvests are bountiful, the servants love and cherish their work and patrons, and the best part is that her 13th birthday is just around the corner. Esperanza views her "perfect" world with rose-colored glasses, holding bias for her heritage and looking down on peasants like Miguel, a close family friend and servant to her family. With the remnants of the Mexican Revolution still fiery and palpable in the early 1930s, peasant revolutionaries and rebels despise her family's wealth and splendor. This persistent fire leads to the death of her father, her uncles' infestation of the Ortega ranch, and her broken family's eventual escape plan to California. Esperanza doesn't know the first thing about living on a farm, and the coming months would define where she's from and what it means to be la patrona. Will she be happy with nothing, or sad with everything? Esperanza will have to be the judge.

Personal Reaction: Esperanza Rising (2000) is an amazing story about living a lifestyle outside of expectations and rising above limiting views to see the world and its inhabitants as it truly is: a world where everyone shares the same heart beat as the ground below us. Esperanza's altruistic story began in a truly frustrating way, as I saw her as just a spoiled child with prejudices against the outside world. Though I viewed her in this way, I thought it was a nice touch for Esperanza to have a close relationship with her father, Sixto. The depth of this relationship was further highlighted by her being taught to do ranch work, outside of the societal norm. I felt a bit more like Esperanza in this moment because I also have a close relationship with my father, and he taught me traditionally masculine tasks early on in my life. These character building experiences brought me to the point I am at now, where I can see any task as within reach, no matter how difficult. It took Esperanza far longer to reach this point of self-determination, however.

I was dissapointed in Esperanza for isolating herself from the peasant people around her, like Miguel. It seems to me that at no point did Esperanza's parents instill these beliefs within her consciously. This "other side of the river" analogy that Esperanza uses to separate herself from Miguel got me thinking about how and when prejudice takes hold in a person's life. Was there anything that Esperanza's parents could have done to detract her from this path of discrimination? I like to think that they could have steered her away from this bigoted self-righteousness path earlier on, but the circumstances that changed for Esperanza are what forced her from her path of bigotry. The moment that redefined Esperanza's life was when her Papi was killed. I, at this moment, also redefined how I saw Esperanza. Rather than a spoiled brat, I viewed her as she was: a naive child who just lost her loving parent. I couldn't help but empathize with her even though I viewed her obstinate perspective of her wealthy status as frustrating. I feel like adolescents shouldn't have to deal with such horrendous experiences but, life finds ways to alter us in the ways it sees fit.

As the story unfolded, it was interesting to see how Esperanza slowly learned that what truly matters in life is not wealth of possessions, but the love that one shares with family and friends. These lessons started with her grief-riddled rejection of her 13th birthday gifts; all of which she didn't want, for what she really wanted was her Papa back. I grew to care more for Esperanza at this point, despite her still very palpable distaste for lower classes. So, you can imagine my face when her Uncles crept in and tried to take both her Mama and her ranch out from under her. I was absolutely livid. How could they disrespect her father's memory like that, and so soon after his death? Of course, I cheered from the sidelines when her broken family created the plan to escape to California and live their lives as "peasants". 

The life that awaited Esperanza was one that she struggled to get accustomed to, that's for sure. I felt empathetic for her when she decided she was to help work with her mother, but she was laughed at by her friends. This got me thinking about how negative character redemptions often start with ridicule or mistrust, and I can't help but see a parallel to real life. I certainly wasn't a perfect pre-teen, and I made some heavy hitting mistakes that made waves for some people. But, as I got older, I wanted to mend bridges and begin anew, start again even. People looked at me like I bleated like a goat and then laughed off my sincere proposal. So, I felt empathetic to Esperanza in this defining moment because I too lived through this ridicule. 

Having survived the trip to California and finally settled in at the ranch, I expected Esperanza to accept her conditions faster than how she did in reality. It frustrated me that she still remained obstinate about her conditions, despite her mother's insistence that they were in fact peasants, and this was their life now. I think my annoyance with Esperanza stems from my own experience of growing up in poverty. My childhood certainly wasn't a perfect childhood, but it was a happy one. My family loved and cherished each other with what we had, and that made us all the richer in experience rather than from wealth. Though it took her quite some time to reach this same level of comfort, I'm glad that she finally did. The drabby shack and yellow dress that she was at first exposed to became normal items for her. I was happy that she was finally accepting her new life. Then, another shocker came and changed her once again: her mother became sick. So, not only was she without her father, she was now alone in her new world. Her reaction to this coming-of-age experience was what solidified her as a fantastic character, in my opinion. I loved how Esperanza pulled herself up by her bootstraps to fill the shoes of her mother and father. At this point, I felt a much deeper connection to Esperanza and I would later rejoice when her hard-work came to her benefit.

After enduring her mother's sickness, the grueling work conditions, and the antagonistic strikers who threatened her new way of life, Esperanza was rewarded with the fruits of her physical and emotional labor: her mother's recovery and her grandmother's arrival to California. The whirlwind experience that Esperanza went through really struck me near the end, because it showed me how deeply Esperanza had changed. She no longer held both her distaste for lower classes and admiration for the wealthy life she lived. What replaced her naive perspective was her newfound seed of familial admiration. I have to say that I absolutely loved the ending to this story since it brought me to an emotional catharsis. The ending reminded me of my own coming-of-age experience where life's many challenges forced me to grow up and become the hardened adult I was meant to be. So, while Esperanza started off as a nuisance, her gradual adaptation and evolution was a truly inspiring boot-strap story. 

Awards Won: Pura Belpré Award (2002), Best Books for Young Adults (2001), Jane Addams Children's Book Award (2001),  WILLA Literary Award for Children's/Young Adult Fiction (2001), Judy Lopez Memorial Award for Children's Literature (2001), Judy Goddard/Libraries Ltd. Young Adult Book Award (2001)

Award Worthiness: Esperanza Rising definitely deserves the recognition it received due in great part to its transcendental literary qualities and its ability to cover traumatizing topics like death, emigration/immigration, and discrimination in poetic, approachable ways. Ryan's ability to instill such poignant emotions with so few words is admirable and certainly contributes to this novel's commendability as well. 

Recommendation: I highly recommend this book to those interested in a garnering a poetic perspective on economic/ethnic discrimination and the process of self-actualization. Specifically, I highly recommend that children as young as 10/11 read this book due to its linguistic approachability and its relatable subject content. I don't recommend that children younger than around 8/9 read this book due to the weight of the subject content and the general interest level. Though the conflict is not outwardly violent or gross in detail, parental or guardian discretion is advised due to the potentially disturbing imagery and discriminatory language that is used (ex. the term "Negroes" is used on p.188). But, outside of this general age recommendation, I highly suggest that pre-teens, teenagers, and adults alike read through Esperanza Rising to expand their perspectives on what it truly means to be "rich" in the world. 

I base my recommendation on the nominal quality of the text itself. Ryan expertly utilizes the third person perspective to forge a necessary distance between Esperanza and the audience. This choice of perspective highlights Esperanza's growth as the story progresses. Speaking of Esperanza, the characters of the story are unique in their backgrounds and contribute to the overall development of Esperanza from that of a brat to a seasoned young-adult. Isabel, for example, was a fantastic foil character since her general actions are the stark opposite to Esperanza's, thereby contributing to Esperanza's development throughout the story. Ryan's use of the historical backdrop of post-Revolution rural Mexico, and the eventual stage of rural California, was a symbolic use of setting since it mirrored Esperanza's personal journey from child-to-young-adult. This historic setting, paired with the relatable characters, contributed to the approachability of Ryan's plot. The story's plot overall was well-paced and maintained its believability as the plot twists and turns occurred. The unexpected personal and physical journey that Esperanza took from Mexico to California ultimately contributed to two overarching themes:1) one shouldn't be afraid of change and 2) that one can be rich in life without riches. Ultimately, the value of the Ryan's novel, which relies on its quality, is in its ability to approach the concept of growing tolerant of change through dark yet tolerable experiences. 

Possible Discussion Topics:

1) Do you think that Esperanza's change of perspective was believable in the months she was on the ranch? Why or why not?

2) How do you think the story would have changed if Esperanza and her mother stayed on the ranch? 

3) What would you have done if you were in Esperanza's shoes on the farm?