Esperanza Rising - Pam Munoz Ryan

So I realize some of you might feel that reading a book for sixth graders is below you but I'm in a funk and didn't want to read anything at all so I figured some reading is better then none. I picked this little beauty up down by the kiddos picture books. It follows the immigration of Esperanza the daughter of a wealthy land owner in Mexico who after her father's death is forced to move to California and start a life as a field hand.

On the Four Star Scale

Naughty Bits () - Please this baby is for children and to be honest it was nice to not have to cringe over someones false attempts at romance. Oh my, why am I so bitter right now.

Readability (****) - 288 pages with big print. I finished it in a hour and half while the kids were playing at the playroom.

Final notes (****) - I really enjoyed this story. I said to Dr J, "You know how everyone has read Grapes of Wrath?" And he said, "I never read it." And then I said, "What? Is that some kind of joke?" Anyway my point is this story gives you an idea of what was going on in California in the farm fields before and when all the dust bowl refugees started showing up. It also is a wonderful reverse fairy tale. Usually in a fairy tale you watch the pauper become the princess. Here you watch the princess become the pauper. The happy ending is that she realizes that material things are not final and all you can really hold onto is family and friends. Esperanza also becomes more humane in poverty. The story is sweet and it gives you a little history on California field hands during the Depression. My personally favorite part of the book is the final three pages where the author talks about her family, her grandmother who was the inspiration for the story, and the history of Mexican labor and strikes during that time period. Really fascinating. To be honest it makes me want to check out a book on farm labor. So I guess for my book funk that is a good sign.