Esperanza Rising Video

Published in the year 2000, Esperanza Rising is a young adult novel written by Mexican-American author Pam Muñoz Ryan. The novel is loosely inspired by Muñoz Ryan’s experience growing up in California’s San Joaquin Valley. It tells the story of Esperanza Ortega, a privileged girl who must leave behind her family’s wealth and social status when her father is murdered, forcing her family to move from Mexico to the United States.

Set in the 1930s, the novel opens on El Rancho de las Rosas, a ranch in Aguascalientes, Mexico, where 12-year-old Esperanza lives a charmed life with her papa, mama, abuelita, and several servants. Esperanza is especially close to her father, who instills in her a strong connection to the land. The day before Esperanza's thirteenth birthday, she pricks her finger on a thorn—a sign of bad luck. That night, Esperanza and her family learn that Papa has been killed by bandits.

Papa’s step brothers, Tío Luis and Tío Marco, are both powerful men in Aguascalientes. Together, they try to manipulate the situation after Papa's death in order to seize el Rancho de las Rosas. Tío Luis offers to marry Mama, threatening her when she turns him down. Soon after, Esperanza wakes up to find their home on fire.

While Esperanza’s family escapes to safety, Abuelita hurts her ankle, and the family’s crops are burnt to a crisp. Left with nothing, Mama agrees to marry Tío Luis but confesses to Esperanza that the engagement is a diversion so she can plan their escape to the United States. One night, along with field workers Alfonso, Hortensia, and their 16 year-old son, Miguel, Esperanza and her family sneak out of Aguascalientes, leaving Abuelita at a convent to recover from her injuries.

Newly penniless, Esperanza struggles to adjust to her lowered social status during the long journey to the United States. After several days on the train, the group finally disembarks in Depression-era California. Alfonso's brother, Juan, is waiting for them at the station along with his wife, their twin babies, and their daughter, Isabel, who is Esperanza’s age.

On the way from the train station, Esperanza tries to remember how Papa taught her to listen to the heartbeat of the earth. When she is unable to hear it, Esperanza imagines herself floating above the ground, untethered to the land. Juan’s truck finally comes to a stop, and Esperanza is shocked to see that her new home is a cramped, shared cabin in a migrant workers' camp.

At the camp, Isabel, who is the same age as Esperanza, teaches her how to do household chores. But when Isabel starts going to school, Esperanza is left to care for the babies and house on her own, while the adults work in the fields. Esperanza develops a rivalry with Marta, an older, politically-minded girl. Marta is organizing the migrant workers to strive for better living conditions and resents Esperanza’s perceived entitlement. Meanwhile, Esperanza is delighted to learn that Miguel has gotten a job as a railroad mechanic.

One day, a dust storm ravages the San Joaquin Valley. Everyone returns home safely, but Mama becomes sick with Valley Fever. Unwell, Mama stays at home while Esperanza starts working in the fields. When Mama must be moved to the hospital, Esperanza takes on more work to pay her medical bills but worries about the upcoming strike.

The strike occurs during the asparagus harvest. Eventually, immigration officials break it up and haul several strikers away to be deported. Esperanza finds Marta hiding in a shed. But instead of turning her in to the officials, Esperanza helps Marta to escape. Gradually, while taking Mama’s place as head of the house, Esperanza grows up and is able to balance her chores with looking after the other children.

To Esperanza’s relief, Mama returns from the hospital. But Esperanza's happiness is short-lived, as Miguel loses his job as a mechanic to workers from Oklahoma who are willing to be paid less. Outraged, Esperanza picks a fight with Miguel about the social position of Mexican migrant workers in the United States. The next morning, Miguel is gone—along with the money Esperanza had been saving to bring Abuelita to the United States.

A few days later, Miguel returns to California with Abuelita, whom he managed to sneak out under the watchful eye of Tío Luis. It turns out that Miguel took Esperanza's money for this very purpose. Looking back, Esperanza realizes that, in the year since Papa's death, her life has come full circle—together, her family has made a new home.