108A TE Fall 2011 discussion

What book should we read next?
I would love to read another book by this author or here are some book ideas i found. We don't have to read any of these.
Sold by Patricia McCormick- Warning this book is about a thirteen year old girl who is sold in to child prostitution.
Child of the civil rights movement by Paula Young Shelton- a book about a child's view of the civil right movement by Martin Luther King

If i find some more i will post them later

Some more suggestions... though I am totally open for anything good:

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry--Ten year old Annemarie Johansen and her best friend Ellen Rosen often think about life before the war. But it's now 1943 and their life in Copenhagen is filled with school, food shortages, and the Nazi soldiers marching in their town.Then Annemarie is asked to go on a dangerous mission. Somehow she must find the strength and courage to save her best friend's life.



Esperanza Rising by Pam Mu1oz Ryan--
Set during the time of the American Great Depression, it examines the plight of the Mexican farmworkers as they struggle to adapt and survive in the United States. Esperanza comes from a wealthy family but falls to misfourtune and is forced to work in a labor camp.

As I read the book, I couldn't help but get irritated at Esperanza at several points in the book. Yes, I do feel bad for her and her family. It's such an unfortunate event that her father died the way he did; he absolutely did not deserve it considering how kind and giving he was to his servants. When they talked about how they were going to leave Mexico and what they would do in the U.S., Esperanza did innocently declare that she, too, would work to help the family out. However, her reaction to the little girl grabbing her doll just showed me how selfish she was. I understand that the doll was her prized possession from her dad and I understand that she wasn't used to being in "that kind of" atmosphere, but I assumed better of her. Also, when they arrived in the U.S., she wasn't acting like she was willing to do whatever it took to hep the family out. I just thought that she would be more humble and more helping considering her father's hardworking characteristics. It also sounded like her grandma and mother taught her well, but Esperanza didn't really display much of that. I have high hopes that Esperanza's attitude is going to change very soon and her perspectives on life are going to be very different. So far, she's shown me that she is capable of doing so - like wanting to learn how to change the diapers, wash them, and how to sweep.

Typical rich, only child is my initial reaction to Esperanza. I am also hopeful that she will "rise" to the tasks that lay ahead of her in California, but I also see her being stubborn and having difficulties acclimating to her new life in the U.S.

Though I know that many people immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico for work and opportunities, I am curious as to how many of those immigrants had a similar background story to Esperanza and her family. Did many wealthy people leave to come to the U.S. or this just a dramatized story that represents a minority of immigrants? It makes me wonder how other children who left their homes (wealthy or not) in Mexico were reluctant to leave? I understand that it is difficult to move to a new place, but I would be interested in finding out more people’s expreinces with immigrating—especially during those times when labor rights were minimal. I am hoping that Marta or Melina might give more insight.

I seem to have a more empathetic side towards Esperanza. I feel like you can't blame a child for the way they were raised. She has never known anything else, so for her a "reality check" is really an understatement in this case. I think if anyone is to blame for her behavior it is more her parent's fault that anything. What gives me a ray of hope is the fact that her father did so much for his workers, and that her mother understands that their lives have now changed and she is not afraid of the hard work they face. Esperanza's parents having these other sides shows me that it is very possible that she will be able to change her ways and rise to the challenges that lay ahead of her. I believe that she will find a way to do whatever she can to help her family and make this new place her new home.

I general, as far as the book goes, it started so depressingly I really didn't even want to read any further. I despised the uncles and I couldn't believe how many terrible things happened to Esperanza and her family in such a short time. The thing that finally got my attention was when they made their plan to go to the United States. Now I want to keep reading. I feel like the book is just getting started and we are halfway through! I hope this book won't leave us wanting more like the last one... I wonder if the author will let us know what ever happened to the uncles back in Mexico.

I wondered that, too, Angela. That was one thing that I wished the author would include in the story is the uncle's reactions once he found out that Esperanza's family had successfully escaped to the U.S. It would be entertaining to read about it. Also, just based on how the uncles were described, I wonder if they would do anything to harm the rest of the servants and whatever that is left of Esperanza's family's land.

As I started reading this book I realized that I have read it before. In the first half of the book Esperanza does seem spoiled. I also agree with Angela it really isn't Esperanza fault for acting the way she does. She just doesn't know any better. Esperanza lived a sheltered life in Mexico do to how her parents raised her. So when she came to US her eyes were opened up to the real world and she didn't know how to act so she acted as she did in Mexico.
The uncles are money grabbers and took advantage of a horrible situation. This forced Esperanza's mom to step up. Esperanza's mom is interesting she adapted quickly to the US way of life which makes me curious about her background.

This post is for the 2nd half of ESPERANZA RISING

I couldn't wait to finish the book! And Esperanza didn't disappoint me! She very much changed my perspectives about her attitude. I just couldn't believe that she really stepped up and accepted her new role and responsibilities. I was very taken aback by all of it! I knew that she was capable of change, but she really surprised with how well and fast she adapted to her new life. I felt very sorry for Esperanza, however, after her mother got sick. She showed me how strong of a person she could be when her mother was forced to stay in the hospital. From that moment on, I felt so proud of Esperanza as I continued to read because she continued knitting the blanket that Abuelita started and she worked hard to keep her job and continued to get hired. The two things that I'm most happy about in regards to Esperanza's selflessness were her giving up her doll to Isabel and her saving up her hard-earned money to bring Abuelita to America. Speaking of Abuelita - I knew right away that it was Miguel who took the money when Esperanza found out it was missing. However, I knew that he took it to try to bring Abuelita back - not for himself; just that action alone speaks to me of how strong and honorable Miguel is as a human being. When Abuelita finally reunited with her family, I felt the emotional reunion that they felt as I was reading it!! Also, I'm happy that we kind of know what happened to the uncles!

Overall, I'm very happy with the second half of the book. It was sad to read it at first but the author did a good job of making sure readers feel those emotions. I like the ending of this more than "ONE CRAZY SUMMER" because it has more of a connection to the story.

This is a good book and it does have an actual ending! Esperanza really does a 180 in this book and comes out stronger and happier in the end. Miguel still irritates me that he stole the money. He could have just told Esperanza what he wanted to do and she would have let him take the money. The blanket is a running theme to me in the book. It is like the more of the blanket that got done the stronger and wiser Esperanza became. Abuelita started the blanket when they had nothing and esperanza finished it when they were all back together safe, and happy.

I am so glad that this book not only had an ending, but a happy one! The book started out quite depressing... And when her mother got sick I almost didn't want to read any further. At this point in the semester I don't think I could take anything happening to her mother. I was truly rooting for Esperanza-and I selfishly needed a pick me up :). She has just been through too much, I couldn't take her going through another loss. Thankfully the book really came through! This story was really quite beautiful, and the fact that it is based off of the life of her grandmother is rather amazing. It is so hard to imagine what everyone was going through at that time. I don't know that I could do half the things Esperanza and her family did.

Just like Thanh, I figured out quickly that Miguel went to go get her grandmother, although I didn't want to get my hopes up until I found out for sure. I was so happy for all of them when she finally made it. They had all been through so much that they truly deserved to be back together again.

I really enjoyed this book, and I'm sure children would as well, especially young girls. It is such an inspirational story! It shows that hard work and determination really do pay off. It also shows that people have the ability to change, and that even if you have been through many trying time there is always room for personal growth. Also, taking place in California made it really interesting. I think that students would be engaged because it makes a connection to California history, and perhaps it would encourage them to learn more in that content area.

As a side note, I was surprised to find out that her mother caught Valley Fever. My uncle has it and it is pretty terrible... He has never worked in the fields or anything, but he lives in central California and his emphysema made things even worse. He somehow breathed the spores into his lungs at some point and it makes him fairly sick. It was really interesting for me to find out this connection to the book, and made the story much more real for me.

This eloquently written historic novel was very fun to read. Though this book was geared toward younger readers, I feel that almost anyone would benefit from reading this. Like I mentioned before, when discussing One Crazy Summer, children go through the difficult times that communities face. In this case, a young girl, Esperanza, had to endure many hardships. Migrating to the United States to work and live in poor conditions must have been brutal- especially considering her past life as a diva.

Like all of you, my opinion of Esperanza have changed dramatically. I looked at the first posting I did about her and it truely was a dramatic change that she went through physically, emotionally and socially. I was pleasently surprised at how she stepped up to the plate despite all the trumoil and stress surrounding her and the people around her.

I hope that I teach upper elementary so that I can read this story to my students or at least offer this book as an option for a literature circle book. I also found the author's note at the end to be enlightening as well. Make sure that you read that!