Esperanza Rising (Scholastic Gold)
Reader's Review This is an incredibly moving account of a young girl who must give up a very privileged life in Mexico when her father is murdered and her house burns down. Esperanza is forced ...
Reader’s Review
This is an incredibly moving account of a young girl who must give up a very privileged life in Mexico when her father is murdered and her house burns down. Esperanza is forced flee to America with her mother and some of their servants where they will work in a Mexican farm labour camp to make ends meet. Esperanza must give up everything she knows and loves and learn to accept a new way of life. There is much educational value in the historical details that are included in the book about life for migrants in the 1930’s, about Spanish culture and in some of the major themes that include discrimination, sacrifice and economic disparity between the rich and the poor. But what shines through is the extremely deep connection that exists between Esperanza, her father, her mother and her grandmother.
To look out for
- Violence: Esperanza’s father is murdered by bandits. Her house is burnt down by her uncle who wants his own revenge. Migrant workers who want to strike threaten violence against other workers who refuse. Esperanza’s mother falls deathly ill.
- Romance: 13 year old Esperanza grew up with the son her father’s companion and worker, a boy 3 years her senior. As a child she says she will marry him but it clear that he is a servant and she is from the elite, so this can never happen. On one occasion he takes her hand to express condolences and she blushes and pulls away. On another occasion when she is crying he takes her hand and holds it.
