Book Review: Esperanza Rising

“We are like the phoenix," said Abuelita. "Rising again, with a new life ahead of us.”

Grandpa and I went outlet visiting today.  We went to Pepperidge Farms, Gossner's Cheese, and Mrs. Cavanaugh's Chocolate Factory.  It was fun.  We also stopped by Carol and Keith's in Smithfield and Henry now believes that my name is "Spinster Aunt."  Oh well.  But I have another book review!

I remember this book being all talked-up by my elementary school librarian in fourth or fifth grade.  And now, I just read Esperanza Rising.  I've read worse books, but I wasn't super impressed.  It has won a bunch of awards, but I think that has to do with the fact that it deals with a minority group in history.

The story is about Esperanza Ortega, the daughter of a wealthy, Spanish-descent, Mexican rancher in the 1930s.  But when her father, Sixto Ortega, is killed by bandits, Esperanza and her mother are forced to immigrate to the United States where they live in company camps in the San Joaquin Valley.  Esperanza must learn about rising from the ashes, not being the queen anymore, and understanding the American Dream.  I will say that the theme of what the American Dream means was fantastic. As her friend, Miguel explains, the American Dream doesn't mean that everyone automatically gets everything, or that there will never be struggles.  But it does mean that everyone has a chance, and there are no rivers dividing people by the mere fact of their birth.  But I was not impressed overall.

I don't want you to get the wrong impression.  I didn't hate it by any means, but I was complacent.  For one, it felt like one big round of Break the Cutie (a term coined by tvtropes.com).  If you don't want to read that entire webpage of description, Break the Cutie is, in one example A Little Princess.  Life is wonderful and then all of the sudden, it stinks a big one.  In the you-must-have-broken-nine-mirrors-walked-under-a-ladder-spilled-salt-and-opened-an-umbrella-in-the-house-in-the-space-of-a-day type.  It feels fully unrealistic in that regard.

Secondly, I cannot stand books putting a phrase in another language and then translating the next sentence.  Is this a book, or Dora the Explorer?  Children's books do it a lot, and I hate it.  We get that they're speaking Spanish.  Mexican migrant workers usually do.  So we don't need, "Que pasa, nina? What happened?"  I understand including foreign words when there isn't a translation for it, or it's an ethnic thing like a food or something.  Or when you your reader to know that your character is confused (in which case, don't translate it).  But the "Gracias.  Thank-you" makes me feel like I'm playing the computer game Madeleine's European Adventure.

Thirdly, I felt like they were trying to show how the Okies didn't have it that bad.  Yes, there were things that were harder about being a Mexican migrant worker, but there were things harder about being an Okie, too.  Yes, Okies didn't have to worry about Repatriation. But, it even explains that the Okies were bringing down their wages, because Okies were willing to work for fractions of what Mexicans were.  A main theme in the story is the strike; all the Mexicans know that if they strike, they will simply replaced by Okies who will work for less. Mexicans were paid MORE than Okies in the Great Depression, not less.

On that note, while they tried to make it about how the Joads needed to stop whining, the whole book read like a fifth-rate Grapes of Wrath.  I liked that they tried to show a less-shown area of history, but let's be honest, that would have been true if we were telling them about Okies.  I taught American Heritage, don't try to convince me that most people know about Okies.  In all, it wasn't terrible, but I felt like it was lacking spark, fire and any real connection to the reader.

Two stars for Esperanza Rising.