About This Book

When Esperanza and Mama are forced to flee to the bountiful region of Aguascalientes, Mexico, to a Mexican farm labor camp in California, they must adjust to a life without fancy dresses and servants like they were accustomed to on Rancho de las Rosas. Now they must confront the challenges of hard work, acceptance by their own people, and economic difficulties brought on by the Great Depression.

When Mama falls ill and a strike for better working conditions threatens to uproot their new life, Esperanza must relinquish her hold on the past and learn to embrace a future ripe with the riches of family and community.

Pam Munoz Ryan reads from Esperanza Rising.

About the Authors or Illustrators

Pam Munoz Ryan

Award-winning author Pam Munoz Ryan writes books for adults, picture books for children, and novels for older students. Her works include Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride, Becoming Naomi Leon, The Dreamer, Esperanza Rising, Paint the Wind, and Riding Freedom, which have garnered, among countless accolades, the Pura Belpre medal, the Jane Addams Award, and the Schneider Family Award.

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