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Sunday, April 30, 2017

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Image: Phoenix rising from the ashes in Book of Mythological Creatures by Friedrich Johann Justin Bertuch (1747-1822)

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El Rancho de las Rosas is burned to the ground, but fortunately Esperanza, Mama, and Abuelita are safe.  Esperanza was able to save the birthday doll from Papa and Abuelita escaped with her crochet bag.  Her trunk was full of cinders- "There was nothing left inside for someday" (44).
This is a dangerous situation for Esperanza and her mother.  They know that the uncles were responsible for the fire, and they have few options.

Abuelita squeezed Esperanza's hand.  Do not be afraid to start over.  When I was your age I left Spain with my mother, father and sisters.  A Mexican official had offered my father a job here in Mexico.  So we came.  We had to take several ships and the journey lasted months.  When we arrived, nothing was promised.  There were many hard times.  But life was also exciting.  And we had each other (49).

This reminds me of an earlier chapter when Abuelita gave Esperanza the same advice- "Don't be afraid to start over."

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I can imagine Esperanza's anxiety and sadness when she wakes up and realizes that the sound of Papa's voice singing Las Mananitas is just a dream and that her father will not be returning.
The papayas that Papa had ordered for her favorite papaya, coconut and lime salad were delivered, and after several days, she opened Papa's birthday present, a porcelain doll- Papa's last gift.  These are painful reminders of previous celebrations that have come to an end.

It is disturbing to read how Tio Marcus and Tio Luis come everyday to "take care of family business."

At first, they stayed only a few hours, but soon they became like la calabaza, the squash plant in Alfonso's garden, who's giant leaves spread out, encroaching upon anything smaller (28-29).

Esperanza dislikes the way that the uncles seem to take over Papa's office.  The description in which she compares them to la calabaza makes me think that they are taking over.  It feels inappropriate for Tio Luis to be wearing Papa's special belt buckle.  It is also outrageous that he would propose marriage to Mama.  The way that he wants to take over Papa's life makes me wonder if the the uncles had any role in Papa's death.  I can't find any evidence in the text so far, but I am suspicious.

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Often people are awakened with this traditional Mexican song on their birthdays.  Esperanza expected to wake up to the sound of Papa and the men from the ranch singing this special song, but sadly, this year would be different.
- (Recording from De Colores and Other Latin American Folk Songs for Children by Jose-Luis Orozco)

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This book club is named in honor Anne Smedinghoff, of a young American woman who loved to read. She was in the US foreign service in Afghanistan delivering books to a school when she was killed by an IED explosion. We hope this book club helps you develop a passion for reading like Anne's.

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Questions and Predictions (Chapters 1 and 2)

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Questions and Predictions (Chapters 1 and 2)

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-Will Esperanza's relationship with Miguel remain distant or will they become close again?
-What will the future hold for Esperanza?  How will she and Mama cope with the loss of Papa?

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1. Esperanza Ortega
(chapter 1 age six, chapter 2 turning 12)
2. Papa (Sixto) Ortega
3. Mama (Ramona) Ortega
4. Abuelita (Esperanza's grandmother)
5. Marisol Rodriguez (Esperanza's best friend)
6. Hortensia (Ortega family's housekeeper and close friend to Mama)
7. Alfonso (Hortensia's husband, el jefe -boss of the fieldworkers and Sexto's companero -close friend)
8. Miguel (son of Hortensia and Alfonso, has grown up with Esperanza,  3 years older than Esperanza)
9. Tio Luis (Papa's older stepbrother, Esperanza's uncle, bank president)
10. Tio Marco (Papa's older stepbrother, Esperanza's uncle, mayor of Aguascalientes)

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From the very beginning, I notice that the author uses Spanish words in italics throughout the text.  In most cases she provides an English translation, for example:
"Cuidate los dedos," said Papa.  "Watch your fingers" (p. 4).

Sometimes the translation is embedded in the sentence:
The campesinos, the field workers, spread out over the land and began the task of reaping the fields (p. 5).

To me, the author's use of Spanish adds another dimension to the characters in the story and helps bring them to life.

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Six years have passed since Chapter 1. Esperanza is turning 13 years old and the ranch is getting ready to harvest the grapes.  The description of the campesinos (field workers) in work clothes getting ready to cut clusters of grapes contrasts with Esperanza in her silk dress and satin ribbon.  She is the only child of Ramona and Sixto Ortega, and her life seems very different from the workers on the ranch.  She daydreams about her quinceanera, a coming out party held for 15 year-old girls, courting and becoming a patrona (a female head of household) like her elegant mother. She appears to lead a privileged life, and she imagines a future that is very similar to her current family life. Esperanza is used to being admired and adored by all.

While gathering roses for her 13th birthday party celebration, Esperanza pricks her finger on a thorn, a sign of bad luck.  Papa is late to arrive home, and Esperanza worries about bandits. "...even though it was 1930 and the revolution in Mexico had been over for ten years, there was still resentment against the large landowners" (p. 11).

I am beginning to worry about Papa.  Although he treats the campesinos who work on his ranch with respect and has given land to many of them, he is still a large landowner.  I wonder if the bandits consider him an enemy.

Abuelita, Esperanza's grandmother, also lives on the ranch with the Ortega family.  Esperanza seems to have a close relationship with abuelita and admires her unpredictable ways:

Abuelita might host a group of ladies for a formal tea in the afternoon, then after they had gone, be found wandering barefoot in the grapes, with a book in her hand, quoting poetry to the birds.

Abuelita seems like a wise woman with many life lessons to teach her granddaughter.  When she sees that Esperanza has pricked her finger on a thorn, Abuelita says, "No hay rosas sin espinas. There is no rose without thorns" (p. 14). Esperanza realizes that Abuelita is not only talking about roses, but difficulties encountered during life.

Abuelita is also teaching her granddaughter to crochet:

When a strand of hair fell into her lap, Abuelita picked it up and held it against the yarn and stitched it into the blanket.
"Esperanza, in this way my love and good wishes will be in the blanket forever.  Now watch.  Ten stitches up to the top of the mountain.  Add one stitch.  Nine stitches down to the bottom of the valley.  Skip one."
Esperanza picked up her own crochet needle and copied Abuelita's movements and then looked at her own crocheting.  The tops of her mountains were lopsided and the bottoms of her valleys were all bunched up.
Abuelita smiled, reached over, and pulled the yarn, unraveling all of Esperanza's rows.  "Do not be afraid to start over," she said (pp. 14-15).

It seems like there are more "life lessons" embedded within these crochet lessons.  Is Abuelita also talking about the high points and low points of life?

Other important characters that are introduced in Chapter 2:Las Uvas include Hortensia (the family housekeeper), Alfonso (the boss of the fieldworkers), and their son Miguel, who is 3 years older than Esperanza.  Although they work for the Ortega family, Hortensia, Alfonso and Miguel are also close friends of Esperanza's family.  When she was younger, Esperanza would sometimes feel jealous of Miguel when her father took him to distant parts of the ranch to teach skills.  At one point, Esperanza imagined herself marrying her close friend, Miguel, but her perspective changed when she became older:

"Now that she was a young woman, she understood that Miguel was the housekeeper's son and she was the ranch owner's daughter and between them ran a deep river.  Esperanza stood on one side and Miguel stood on the other and the river could never be crossed" (p. 17).

I wonder if Esperanza will always feel this way.  When she told Miguel about this "river", her relationship with him changed and he became distant and started calling Esperanza, "my queen."  She seems to regret this and misses the closeness that they once shared.

At the end of the chapter, Tio Luis and Tio Marco (Papa's older stepbrothers, Esperanza's uncles) appear at the ranch. They have powerful jobs- bank president and mayor. It is clear that Esperanza and her mother do not like them or trust them.  Papa said that they "loved power and money more than people" (19).  The uncles hand Mama Papa's silver belt buckle that had been found by a vaquero (cowboy).  At the end of the chapter we discover that Papa has died.

I wonder what the future will bring for Esperanza? How will she and Mama cope with their loss?

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This short chapter shows the strong bond between Esperanza (age 6) and Papa and the way that he teaches her to love and appreciate the land.  I can imagine Esperanza and her father laying on their stomachs listening to the land "breathe."  Three hearts beating together- a beautiful childhood memory.  (pp. 1-3)

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Epigraph contains two Mexican proverbs:
- "He who falls today may rise tomorrow."
- "The rich person is richer when he becomes poor, than the poor person when he becomes rich."

I wonder why the author choose to include these two proverbs at the beginning?

The first quote, "He who falls today may rise tomorrow" makes me think of the cover art and the title, Esperanza Rising.
This is something I want to return to later after I read more of the book...

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The cover art shows a young woman, probably Esperanza, floating over the countryside.  She is holding one rose against her chest and releasing one with her other hand.  It looks like she is flying, the way that her hair and dress are both billowing to the side.

I wonder how this cover art connects to the novel.

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Bev and I are so excited to meet all of you and get to know you through our shared reading of Esperanza Rising, by Pam Munoz Ryan.

This "padlet" will be our collaborative digital journal, and all book club members are invited to view, post and comment.

To learn more about how to use padlet, visit the https://padlet.com/support/padlets_howtopost You do not need to create an account to participate.  If you need help getting started, please feel free to contact me at sweintraub@princetonjuniorschool.org
Best Regards,
Susan