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What do you think?
What part of the book did you like the best? Why?
Are you like Esperanza in any way? How are you different?
Think of all that Esperanza had to struggle with over the course of the book: cultural, economic, and political unrest. How did she respond at first? Did she change over the course of the book? In what ways?
Have you ever had a similar experience, where you were in a completely foreign environment and needed to assimilate? Describe the situation and how you felt. What did you change to assimilate? What didn't change?
How is Esperanza's life in Aguascalientes different from her life in the farm camp? How are they similar?
The story is filled with beautiful examples of Latino culture. For example, when Esperanza's mother changed her hair style after arriving in the work camp. She used to wear her hair up, but began wearing her hair in a braid, identifying herself as a laborer. What other examples can you find?
Esperanza remembers her father's love for the land, talking about hearing its "heartbeat." She lies down in the dirt of the farm camp hoping to hear it. Do you think every landowner feels their land speak to them? Does Esperanza hear it speak to her? When?
How does Esperanza's relationship with Miguel change when she begins living in America?
Esperanza had a hard time asking for help. Why? Have you ever felt that way? Describe your experience and what you ended up doing.
Why is the book called Esperanza Rising? Why is "rising" a theme used throughout the book?
Author Pam Muñoz Ryan begins the book with two Mexican proverbs: "He who falls today may rise tomorrow" and "The rich person is richer when he becomes poor, than the poor person when he becomes rich." Why are these proverbs significant to the story?
What is the significance of crocheting and the mountains and valleys pattern the women use in the story?
Why is each chapter named after a fruit or a vegetable?
What did Esperanza learn from Marta?
Fun & Adventure Beyond the Book
Author Pamela Muñoz Ryan based Esperanza Rising on her grandmother's experiences. You can learn more about the author on her website.
Esperanza Rising is set during the Great Depression in California. People from all over America and Mexico flocked to California in search of work in the 1930s. The Central Valley of California, with its fertile soil and long growing seasons, needed thousands of farm workers to work the fields. With that great influx of people came confusion and conflict. Esperanza witnesses strikes and injustice as she struggles to keep her family together. Her experiences offer a story we've heard before, but from a different point of view. Usually, when we think of California in the 1930s, we think of the dustbowl migrants, poor whites from Oklahoma and Texas who struggled with hard labor and discrimination. In Esperanza Rising, we're reminded that Mexican immigrants played a large part of the story.
Labor strikes were part of Esperanza's experience. Migrant workers have struggled through history for improved working conditions and fair wages. Learn more about migrant workers through the years, including prominent Mexican-American labor organizer César Chavez.
Discover more about Mexico, its traditions and its history. This comprehensive guide to Mexico also has a number of links.
Have you ever eaten Huevos Revueltos? What about un burrito de frijoles? If you have, then you know how tasty Mexican food is. This site will show you how to make tortillas and other meals referenced in the book.
Woody Guthrie is a singer/songwriter who immortalized the experiences of migrant farm workers and many of the twentieth century's most historic events. His music is said to "capture the plight of every man." You can learn more about Woody Guthrie and his music on a website devoted to his life and work.
If You Like This Book, Check Out...
Grace Greene, from the Vermont Department of Libraries, says if you liked Esperanza Rising, you’ll probably enjoy these books as well:
Other titles by Pam Munoz Ryan:
Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride. Scholastic, 1999. (picture book)
A fictionalized account of the night Amelia Earhart flew Eleanor Roosevelt over Washington, D.C. in an airplane.
Becoming Naomi Leon. Scholastic, 2004.
When Naomi's absent mother resurfaces to claim her, Naomi runs away to Mexico with her great-grandmother and younger brother in search of her father.
Riding Freedom. Scholastic, 1998.
A fictionalized account of Charley (Charlotte) Parkhurst who ran away from an orphanage, posed as a boy, moved to California, and fooled everyone by her appearance.
When Marian Sang. Scholastic, 2002. (picture book)
An introduction to the life of Marian Anderson, extraordinary singer and civil rights activist, who was the first African American to perform at the Metropolitan Opera, whose life and career encouraged social change.
Companion titles:
Brimmer, Larry Dane. A Migrant Family. Lerner, 1992.
Stories about migrant farm workers in California from the perspective of a migrant child.
Francisco, Jimenez. The Circuit: Stories From the Life of a Migrant Child. Houghton, 1999.
Stories about migrant farm workers in California.
Perez, L. King. First Day in Grapes. Lee & Low, 2002. (picture book)
When Chico starts the third grade after his migrant worker family moves to begin harvesting California grapes, he finds that self confidence and math skills help him cope with the first day of school.
Thomas, Jane Resh. Lights on the River. Hyperion, 1994. (picture book)
Teresa, the young daughter of Mexican American migrant workers, has a hard life but keeps memories of her grandmother and Mexico alive in her heart.
Voices From the Fields: Children of Migrant Farmworkers Tell Their Stories. Little, Brown, 1993.
Photographs, poems, and interviews with children reveal the hardships and hopes of Mexican American migrant farm workers and their families.
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