This book written by Pam Munoz Ryan is also a Pura Belpre Award winner. Esperanza Rising is a young adult book geared toward students in grades 6th-9th. This book follows the life of 13 year old Esperanza who is leading a very privileged life with her mother, father, and grandmother in Mexico. After her father is killed, Esperanza and her mother must flee to California where their lives go from privileged to very difficult and from from luxury. Esperanza has a hard time accepting her new life and the changes that have all happened very abruptly. This book explores many history topics as well as exploring the feelings of the people that were affected by these times in history.
We thought this book was authentic for a couple reasons. One that was different from all of our other choices was that the author, Pam Munoz Ryan, used the life of her grandmother, Esperanza Ortega Munoz Hernandez Elgart, to form the story line for this book so although it is not nonfiction it is based on a story that is familiar to Munoz Ryan. Also, each chapter is named after a fruit or vegetable common in Mexican harvests. The story line accurately depicts the lives and times of Mexican immigrants during the Depression.
Due to the many history topics woven throughout this book, it can be used in many ways in the classroom. For a 6th grade class before reading a teacher could teach about the Depression and immigration and find out what the children already know about these topics. During reading the children can discuss and write about the many feelings Esperanza must be going through and make text to self or text to world connections. After reading, children can talk about what they think Esperanza learned through her hardships.
Click on this link to find an interactive on Esperanza Rising from Scholastic.com for your students to enjoy!
Esperanza Rising Should have a table of Contents other than that I love it
ReplyDeleteYea its awesome!
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