Esperanza Rising
Pam Muñoz Ryan
 The story takes place in Aguascalientes, Mexico on a ranch called El Rancho de las Rosas. It follows Esperanza Ortega, daughter of Ramona and Sixto Ortega, a rich rancher and landowner. The night before Esperanza's thirteenth birthday Esperanza's father is murdered by bandits. Esperanza, her mother, Grandmother Abuelita and their servants are devastated by the news. Later that night Esperanza dreams of her father and the other men and boys on the ranch singing "Happy Birthday" in Spanish to her. Politics and family problems force Esperanza and her mother to leave Mexico for California, leaving behind her beloved Abuelita. After a long and tedious train ride the group arrives in Los Angeles and then travel by truck to the San Fernando Valley where they meet a girl named Isabel, her parents Juan and Josefina, and Isabel's baby brother and sister, Lupe and Pepe. Due to her privileged background, Esperanza is hated by some of the workers, and she finds it difficult to adapt to her new life. She and her mother now share a shack with Alfonso and his family as the owners of the camp do not allow single mothers to have their own shacks, only men. At one point a dust storm runs through the camps forcing the adults to leave the fields and return home. Due to the dust storm Mama becomes ill with Valley Fever, an infection of the lungs by dust spores, and pneumonia. She spends several months in the hospital and in order to pay Mama's medical bills, Esperanza must earn money by working in the fields. After many months Mama eventually recovers and is released from the hospital to be with her friends and family. Miguel steals the money Esperanza had and went down to retrieve Abuelita, and Esperanza finally feels happy with her life and is happy to be surrounded by the people she loves.