Southwest Children's  Literature

Sun Logo


Esperanza Rising

Book Review:

Pam Muñoz Ryan begins her classic children's novel with a quotation: "He who falls today may rise tomorrow." This is a significant foreshadowing of the troubles Ryan's main character Esperanza -- which means "hope" in Spanish -- will face throughout the book.

When bandits kill Esperanza's father, a prominent landowner in 1920's Mexico, she and her mother are left penniless and forced to become migrant workers in California. They are not there long when her mother becomes very sick. Her family's welfare now resting on her shoulders, Esperanza finds amazing reserves of strength to not only survive but to work towards reuniting her and her mother with their grandmother.

In a time of current economic hardships, young readers will find much to identify with in Esperanza and her hard working friends. Educators will appreciate not only a unique perspective on the Depression but also an introduction to labor and migrant worker rights.

to mainpage

About the Book | Book Review | Students' Voices | About the Reviewer