Esperanza Rising

**CELEBRATING 25 YEARS IN PRINT!**

A modern classic for our time and for all time―this beloved, award-winning bestseller resonates with fresh meaning for each new generation. Perfect for fans of Kate DiCamillo, Christopher Paul Curtis, and Rita Williams-Garcia.

Pura Belpre Award Winner

* "Readers will be swept up." -Publishers Weekly, starred review

Esperanza thought she'd always live a privileged life on her family's ranch in Mexico. She'd always have fancy dresses, a beautiful home filled with servants, and Mama, Papa, and Abuelita to care for her. But a sudden tragedy forces Esperanza and Mama to flee to California and settle in a Mexican farm labor camp. Esperanza isn't ready for the hard work, financial struggles brought on by the Great Depression, or lack of acceptance she now faces. When Mama gets sick and a strike for better working conditions threatens to uproot their new life, Esperanza must find a way to rise above her difficult circumstances--because Mama's life, and her own, depend on it.

Author: Pam Muñoz Ryan
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Published: 10/01/2000
Pages: 336
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.80lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.80w x 1.10d
ISBN: 9780439120418
Audience: Ages 9-12

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 5.3
Point Value: 6
Interest Level: Middle Grade
Quiz #/Name: 44286 / Esperanza Rising


Award: Bluebonnet Awards - Nominee
Award: Pura Belpre Award - Winner
Award: L.A. Times Book Prize - Nominee
Award: California Young Reader Medal - Nominee
Award: Rebecca Caudill Young Readers Book Award - Nominee
Award: Georgia Children's Book Award - Nominee
Award: Young Hoosier Book Award - Nominee
Award: WILLA Literary Award - Winner
Award: Americas Award for Children & Young Adult Literature - Honor Book
Award: Nutmeg Book Award - Nominee
Award: Nevada Young Readers' Award - Nominee
Award: South Carolina Childrens, Junior and Young Adult Book Award - Nominee
Award: Iowa Children's Choice (ICCA) Award - Nominee
Award: Jane Addams Children's Book Award - Winner
Award: Jefferson Cup - Notable
Award: Massachusetts Children's Book Award - Honor Book
Award: Charlie May Simon Children's Book Award - Nominee


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Review - Children 10/01/2000 pg. 1432
Publishers Weekly 10/09/2000 pg. 88
School Library Journal 10/01/2000 pg. 171
Horn Book Magazine 01/01/2001 pg. 96
Booklist 12/01/2000 pg. 708
ALA Best Books Young Adults 01/01/2001 pg. 1373
Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2000 pg. 78 - Superior,Well Above Average
ALA Notable Children's Books 03/15/2002 pg. 1235
Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2001 pg. 78 - Superior,Well Above Average

About the Author

Pam Muñoz Ryan is the recipient of the NEA's Human and Civil Rights Award, the PEN Center USA Award, and the 2024 Children's Literature Legacy Award for her body of work. She was the 2018 and is the 2026 US nominee for the international Hans Christian Andersen Award. She received a Newbery Honor Medal and the Kirkus Prize for her New York Times bestselling novel, Echo. Her other celebrated novels, Esperanza Rising, The Dreamer, Riding Freedom, Becoming Naomi León, Paint the Wind, and Mañanaland, have received countless accolades, among them the Pura Belpré Award, the Jane Addams Children's Book Award, and the Américas Award. Her acclaimed picture books include Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride and the Sibert Honor book When Marian Sang, both illustrated by Brian Selznick, Mice and Beans illustrated by Joe Cepeda, and Tony Baloney illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham, as well as a beginning reader series featuring Tony Baloney. Ryan lives near San Diego, California, with her family.