Esperanza Rising

You know the phrase: it grows on you? That's exactly how I feel towards historical fiction. I have felt increasingly drawn to this genre with each new historical novel I read, and I believe this is not a crush. In historical fiction, not only do I get a good story to enjoy, there is also the historical context to explore. It is a best-of-both-worlds situation. Historical fiction opens up a set of sliding doors between the realistic fiction and non-fiction worlds. An invitation is made to a whole new time and place.

In Pam Munoz Ryan's Esperanza Rising, winner of the Pura Belpre Author Award in 2002, the invitation is made to join 13-year old Esperanza, first in her father's beautiful El Rancho de las Rosas in Aguascalientes, Mexico, then in the agricultural fields of California. It is 1924. Peasants are resentful of wealthy landowners in Mexico, and many are making their way across the border to California in search of work. In California, refugees labour arduously in the agricultural fields picking and packing produce for little, and make their homes in camps, segregated by country of origin. Strikes are common; in the land of "free speech", even the looming threat of repatriation does not stop laborers from forming unions and making their voices heard. Against this background, Esperanza, who's only ever known love and luxury in the safety of El Rancho de las Rosas, finds herself climbing mountains and valleys and far from the life she once knew. This is Esperanza's story.

Publisher's weekly describes this middle grade novel as "lyrical". I agree. This is a beautiful novel, rich with imagery, which reads like a virtual walk through an art gallery. The rhythm of its chapters and pages echoes the rhythm of the heartbeat of the earth itself. The concerns of its characters transcend their circumstances and even the times they live in. I, for one, will find myself looking at the produce in the supermarket shelves differently from now, remembering Esperanza and her family, and their message for me.

Teaching tip: Getting students to visualize what they are reading about can be a great help to comprehension. Students can use Google Images and Pinterest to create an online pinboard for the book, pinning images off the internet of important images in the book. They can also select a quote from the book to accompany each pinned image. When students are asked to explain their choice of image and quote, they will find themselves thinking deeply about the symbolism in their images, and the meaning of their selected quotes. Check out the pinboard I made for Esperanza Rising here!