Book Report: Esperanza Rising By Pam Muñoz Ryan

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Recommended: Historical fiction analysis

My book report was on “Esperanza Rising” by Pam Muñoz Ryan. The genre of this book is Historical Fiction. The publisher is Scholastic. It has a total of 253 pages plus the author’s notes. Esperanza Rising was published in the year of 2000. Some unusual facts about this book was that it had some Spanish words in it but English after so you know what it means. This book is a Pure Belpre Award winning book. The Pure Belpre Award means excellent portrayal of Latino experience in children's literature. I chose this book to read because the author seemed familiar and the cover of the book really caught my attention including the title.
The novel starts out with the main character and protagonist, Esperanza, the spoiled six-year old little girl living the fairytale life. The other main characters are Mama, Abuelita and Miguel. She lives with her mama, grandmother and their servants with her papa owning his ranch in Aguascalientes, Mexico which is the setting in the beginning, than it takes place in California. In the book, her nickname is Ranza. She likes nice dresses, dolls, and fruits. In her family, when the grape harvest every year, they have a big party for her. As the story continues in the next few chapters, Esperanza’s life completely flips. A lot happens and gets worse for her and her family. It was still during the 1930s, the ending the Mexican Revolution where there was still a lot of resentment against the wealthy landowners in Mexico. The third person tells the story which is the narrator, who has access to Esperanza’s thoughts. The tone of this book would most definitely be both a creepy tale of suspense and a lighthearted adventure to me because Esperanza’s family go through sneaking away trying to not get caught which i...

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...ugh it was kind of based on the author’s grandmother. Its weaknesses was definitely the Spanish words cause I couldn’t pronounce it. The book did indeed hold my interest because it was really inspirational. Esperanza goes through so much for her family and overcomes difficult times on being a stronger person. I learned that in life, when you want something to happen, you should always be patient. Never be impatient. The book affected me because today immigration wasn’t always a big issue like it was back than. We learn that its not easy to leave your home and go somewhere new and start fresh. There’s never an easy solution. Lastly, I would certainly recommend this book to others because it’s a lesson story of how hard you have to work. Also it’s based of the author’s grandmother Esperanza Ortega, the hero in the book as it says in back of the book in author’s notes.

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