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Esperanza Rising

By: Pam Munoz Ryan
Narrated by: Trini Alvarado
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Publisher's summary

Esperanza Ortega possesses all the treasures a young girl could want: fancy dresses; a beautiful home filled with servants in the bountiful region of Aguascalientes, Mexico; and the promise of one day rising to Mama's position and presiding over all of El Rancho de las Rosas.

But a sudden tragedy shatters that dream, forcing Esperanza and Mama to flee to California and settle in a Mexican farm labor camp. There they confront the challenges of hard work, acceptance by their own people, and economic difficulties brought on by the Great Depression. When Mama falls ill from Valley Fever 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 eloquently portrays the Mexican workers' plight in this abundant and passionate novel that gives voice to those who have historically been denied one.

©2000 Pam Munoz Ryan (P)2001 Random House, Inc., Listening Library, An Imprint of Random House Audio Publishing Group

Critic reviews

"Rich in history and culture, this novel is all the more successful in the audio format." (AudioFile Magazine)

"Ryan writes movingly in clear, poetic language that children will sink into."(Booklist)

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