My Little Pocketbooks: Review: Esperanza Rising

Esperanza Rising
Author: Pam Muñoz Ryan
Genre: Children's Book
Age Range: 8 and up
Publisher: Scholastic
Release Date: May 1, 2002
Audiobook: 4 hours and 35 minutes
Narrator: Trini Alvarado
Source: Free from E-Library

Book Description

A reissue of Pam Munoz Ryan's bestselling backlist with a distinctive new author treatment.
Esperanza thought she'd always live with her family on their ranch in Mexico--she'd always have fancy dresses, a beautiful home, and servants. But a sudden tragedy forces Esperanza and Mama to flee to California during the Great Depression, and to settle in a camp for Mexican farm workers. Esperanza isn't ready for the hard labor, financial struggles, or lack of acceptance she now faces. When their new life is threatened, Esperanza must find a way to rise above her difficult circumstances--Mama's life, and her own, depend on it.

Review

This audiobook was recommended to me by the e-library and with a cover so beautiful I had to check it out. And I am glad I did.

Esperanza is a young girl growing wealthy on her family winery when tragedy strikes them. Esperanza’s beloved father and caretaker is killed leaving her and her mother without protection from his evil brothers, who just want to marry the newly widowed mother and take over the estate. Instead of settling for an awful marriage of bullying and intimidation her mother packs them up and they run off into the night to try America. But when they get there they find they are one of many trying to obtain the American dream. Now a field worker Esperanza learns the lesson of life and it’s not about the things you have but the people you have with you. Esperanza grows up and sees life from new eyes.

I love this story because it is a story that can give adults a tool to talk to young kids about various topics like moving, how to treat others, being a help to the family and so many more. I think the author did a great job of writing the description of places and the crops and the fields Esperanza moves to. I think this is a great read and a wonderful audiobook. The narrator was living the book and did more than just read it. I had a moment of two were I completely forgot I was listening to a children’s audiobook. I just thought I was listening to the radio or NPR.

Wonderful narrator, great story, and amazing writing.