Book Review: Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan

Esperanza Rising is a juvenile fiction book by Pam Munoz Ryan. It is classified as historical fiction, and it is distributed by Scholastic Press.

Pam Munoz Ryan is an award winning author for juvenile fiction, and you can see why if you crack the spine of Esperanza Rising.

Though it is loosely based on her memories of stories told by her Grandmother, Esperanza Rising makes the past come alive in the tale of Esperanza Ortega, a young girl in Mexico who thinks she has it all. Unfortunately, tragedy befalls her family, and Esperanza Rising is a tale of triumph over adversity as Esperanza and her mother travel from Mexico to the United States during the Great Depression to face their new life in the farm labor camps.

Esperanza Rising was recommended to me by a friend who is studying young adult literature. It touched her so deeply that she passed me a copy to read. I don't normally read juvenile fiction, but the topic intrigued me.

I found the book delightful. The characters are vividly portrayed, their emotions are deep and real. I could relate to several of the characters in the book in several ways, and the Mexican culture is an underlying theme throughout the book. Esperanza's pain felt very near to my own heart, and her personal growth through it was refreshing.

This book may be juvenile fiction, but I believe it has something for everyone. History, culture, an eye-opening look into a different frame of mind, so many things blend together to make this story unique. I can understand why the author felt that her grandmother's story needed to be brought to life, and I'm pleased to say that Esperanza Rising is a book the author can be proud of. Her story-telling can reach new generations with things that they hopefully will never experience, as well as things they may have dealt with themselves.

This tale of the life of Esperanza will stay with you. The young woman's abrupt start on the road to adulthood carries you with her through the seasons marked not by months of the year, but by the crops harvested during those times.

It tackles the difficult issue of racism during a time in history where everyone was fighting just to put food on the table. It breathes life into a history that most young adults wouldn't even think about. It tackles issues of loss...loss of family, loss of pride, loss of a sense of self during such a difficult transition.

Pam Munoz Ryan's Esperanza will stay with me for a long time. I'm glad to see juvenile fiction is still able to challenge and enlighten readers of what I believed to be a literary bracket best forgotten. I am definitely pleasantly surprised, and I hope others will be as well.