First published 2003
Esperanza must abandon her comfortable existence at Rancho de las Rosas when she and Mama escape from Aguascalientes, Mexico to a farm labor camp in California. Gone are the fancy dresses and servants she once knew. In their place come backbreaking fieldwork, suspicious fellow workers, and the harsh realities of Depression-era poverty. Esperanza struggles to fit in among people who view her former wealth with distrust. When Mama becomes seriously ill and labor strikes threaten to destroy what little stability they have built, Esperanza faces an impossible choice. She can cling to memories of her pampered past or forge ahead into an uncertain future. The decision will test everything she believes about herself and her place in the world. Through sweat and sacrifice, Esperanza discovers that true wealth lies not in material possessions but in the bonds of family and the strength found in community.
Genres: family-life, american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Rancho de las Rosas, Aguascalientes, California
Period: Depression-era
5 pages · Audio CD · Listening Library