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Content snapshot
Flag an inaccuracy →What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.
Violence
Barely any
A murder and its aftermath; the difficult conditions of migrant labor camps
Language
None
No profanity
Sexual Content
None
No sexual content
Substance Use
None
No substance use
Emotional Intensity
A lot
The psychological shock of losing everything; the long work of adaptation and resilience; a mother's illness
What this book is about
Esperanza Ortega grows up on a beautiful ranch in Mexico, expecting a comfortable life. When her father is murdered and her stepuncle burns the ranch, she and her mother flee to California as migrant workers during the Great Depression. Esperanza must do work she has never done, survive conditions she never imagined, and discover a resilience she didn't know she had. Ryan's novel—dedicated to her grandmother—is a masterwork of middle-grade historical fiction, honest about labor conditions and discrimination without being overwhelmingly bleak.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
A parent's murder sets the story in motion
The psychological weight of poverty and displacement
Labor conditions in Depression-era California
Reader Verification
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