This is about a little girl who is forced to move from the only home she has ever known in Mexico and immigrate to the United States. She is living in small working community with other migrant workers and finds ways to cope with the longing to return to the home she dearly misses. It is a coming of age story that will touch the heart of anyone who reads it.

I was touched by this book. I just wish I had more time to spend really devouring it. The semester at school just caught up with me and I felt like I had to rush through it. But it was a beautiful story, and even though I have never experienced the hardships that this young lady has had to face at such a young age, I found myself really connecting with her.

This would be a wonderful read aloud book that could be used as a classroom set. It was very light reading. I believe that the students would be able to get a lot out of the book as far as another side to oppression is concerned. This book deals with the oppression of the Mexican Immigrants. I am from Houston where a great portion of the population is Mexican American. This is definitely a book that I would use in my classroom to give those children a connection with their history.

Based on her grandmother's experiences as an immigrant and a migrant worker in the 1930's. Ryan has written a beautiful and sensitive book about a young girl who is forced to flee her home and her sheltered life in Mexico to becme a migrant worker in the US.

Highly recommended! ( )

Esperanza Ortega loves her family’s El Rancho de las Rosas in Aguascalientes, Mexico. She especially loves harvest time, when everyone gathers to cut the heavy grapes off of the vines, culminating in her birthday celebration. But this year, as she turns 13, the unthinkable happens: Her father is murdered, and Esperanza and her mother must flee to California, leaving their home and wealth behind.

Full review:
http://www.twentybyjenny.com/812Books... ( )

Esperanza Rising is an inspiring coming of age novel for all young people. The protagonist is a 13-year-old girl but both girls and boys will be able to relate to Esperanza and her family as they work to find their place in their new homeland. This story gives readers insight into the struggles of immigrant families as they leave everything they know behind in hopes of creating a life in the United States. In Esperanza’s case her life in the United States is not exactly better. Though this story is fiction it is based on true-life stories told by Pam Munoz Ryan’s grandmother. This novel will help students gain awareness of the strikes that occurred in the agriculture fields in the 1930’s and the Deportation Act that gave counties the power to send many Mexicans back to Mexico despite their citizenship. ( )

When her father is killed by bandits on the eve of her thirteenth birthday, Esperanza and her mother are forced to flee their comfortable life as landowners on a Mexican ranch, and emigrate to America to look for work as campesinos (field workers). Suddenly Esperanza finds herself living and working among the peasant people who used to work for her family, and learns that she must quickly adapt to this new life of hard labor and low wages if she and her mother are to survive.

I find myself really wishing this book had been better written. It touches on such important themes -- coming-of-age, race relations, family responsibility -- and such significant components of American history -- immigration, the Great Depression, agriculture. But the writing just seems trite and rather predictable. Conflicts are resolved too fluidly, and even though Esperanza never regains the idyllic lifestyle she had as a child, the ending is just a bit too happy.

That said, what I see as trite may be better suited toward younger readers, though that audience would more likely appreciate a protagonist who is a bit closer to their own age. The struggles Esperanza deals with are those of a young adult, whereas the writing style seems better suited for elementary school-aged children.

Overall, though, it's a good book, and the themes and context are important. Ryan approaches the subject of race relations gently and patiently, and her treatment of the subject is especially important for children who might not yet have developed awareness of or sensitivity toward the subject. Were the writing just a bit stronger, I would call this a must-read; as it stands, it is certainly a worthy and enjoyable read.