Esperanza Rising, written by Pam Munoz Ryan, is a realistic fiction about a Latina girl living in Arvin, California during the 1930's, in her new life full of hardships and poverty. Over the duration of the story she learns how to overcome being a migrant worker. She learns to respect what she has and be grateful for all she has earned and worked for. She lived in a prosperous and powerful wealthy family until her father was murdered and her house was burnt down. She then left to California with her mother and former servants. Once arrived, she realizes how different her life will be there. She must live the life of the people she used to look down upon. Soon, her mother becomes ill and she must work to pay the bills. Eventually, after long periods of hard work, her grandmother joined her in California. Around this time, Esperanza learned to accept her new life. Her mother healed from her illness and Esperanza's family was back in once piece again. She faces many forms of discrimination from white Americans throughout the story. An interesting part of the story is when Esperanza's abuelita arrives in California. Another interesting part of the story is when Esperanza must babysit for the first time and doesn't know what to do. I would recommend this story to girls ages eleven to fifteen because they could most likely relate to the main character and be able to compare their lives as a young woman now to young women during the great depression.
I have been reading many realistic fiction and historical fiction books recently. I find them pretty interesting.
1) Book Thief by Markus Zusak: The book thief was a very well written book in my opinion. It had such creative and descriptive writing and was great at spurring emotion among the readers. 2) The Anatomy of a Single Girl: Dominique had just gone through a tragic breakup with her old boyfriend.. She returns home to meet a handsome boy named Guy. They date until the end of summer break when she goes back to college and her family moves houses. 3) Simple as it Seems by Sarah Weeks: Verbena was having many troubles at home and it was having a strong affect on how she acted around other people. She found out she was adopted and began to feel angry all the time. It became uncontrollable at times. All she needed was a friend to rely on like Pooch. 4) Zeitoun by Dave Eggers: This novel really made me think about how difficult Hurricane Katrina really was. Even though Zeitoun is a non-fiction story, it seems as though it is so outrageous it is a fiction. Topics included in this book are racism, damage from hurricane Katrina, and living in jail. 5) Dragonwings by Laurence Yep: Dragonwings is a lovely story about a young Tang boy that immigrates to America to be with his father. His father has a dream of flying. Throughout the story you learn about their adventures meeting demons, flying, and growing together as a father and son. |
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April 2013
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