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Esperanza rising

Esperanza Rising, by Pam Munoz Ryan, is a story of a girl who experiences a big, sudden change in existence, and turns her perfect life into a life full of hardships and misery.

Esperanza Ortega, the daughter of Ramona and Sixto Ortega, is from an aristocratic family. She has everything she wishes for, including Abuelita, her grandmother, her Mama, and her beloved Papa, who owns a vineyard. One day, things are turned upside down and Esperanza is forced to live in a farm, leaving her beloved hacienda and worse, her best friend Abuelita. She is not comfortable with the down-trodden, and complains to her Mama that she didn’t want such a miserable life. However, her dislike for poor and lower-class people is completely forgotten when household chores are assigned to the little aristocrat girl. To make things harder for her, her Mama is struck with a deadly sickness. Bearing the sadness and loneliness of the world around her, Esperanza learns how to live a better and fuller life, and is slowly molded into a hardworking, more mature lady.

Esperanza Rising is a touching story about starting a new life over again, no matter how hard it is to cope with it. Many people can relate with this, because everyday, small changes occur in our lives. It just depends how big you think the change is, and it is up to you if the change is good or bad. In Esperanza’s story, she chose to turn something that appeared to be bad, into a good start for a new life. # Gaea Claver for NORDIS

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