Module 3

SLIS 5420/Module 3 June 21-27

"Esperanza Rising" by Pam Munoz Ryan &
"Looking For Alaska" by John Green

Summary for "Esperanza Rising":
A young girl, Esperanza, has everything she wants until her father is killed and then everything is taken from her and she has to move to California with her mother to start a new life. The struggles and challenges she faces are shown as she grows and learns from them.
My Impressions: This book was beautifully writing and such a great story. Esperanza goes through a lot but grows up through all of it. She learns about the hardships of life and finally understands how even with the hardships life will be okay as long as you have family.

Reviews:
Esperanza Rising was recommended to me by a friend who is studying young adult literature. It touched her so deeply that she passed me a copy to read. I don't normally read juvenile fiction, but the topic intrigued me.
I found the book delightful. The characters are vividly portrayed, their emotions are deep and real. I could relate to several of the characters in the book in several ways, and the Mexican culture is an underlying theme throughout the book. Esperanza's pain felt very near to my own heart, and her personal growth through it was refreshing.
This book may be juvenile fiction, but I believe it has something for everyone. History, culture, an eye-opening look into a different frame of mind, so many things blend together to make this story unique. I can understand why the author felt that her grandmother's story needed to be brought to life, and I'm pleased to say that Esperanza Rising is a book the author can be proud of. Her story-telling can reach new generations with things that they hopefully will never experience, as well as things they may have dealt with themselves.
This tale of the life of Esperanza will stay with you. The young woman's abrupt start on the road to adulthood carries you with her through the seasons marked not by months of the year, but by the crops harvested during those times.
~Liz Copeland 2006 http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/70574/book_review_esperanza_rising_by_pam.html

Cross the River With Esperanza!, October 14, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Esperanza Rising (Hardcover)

There are many books and movies out there about young people and their families as they struggle to survive in Mexico and then in California when they decide to cast their lot with the American Dream...Esperanza has everything she could ever want or need on her father's El Rancho de las Rosas near Aguascalientes, Mexico, when he is killed by bandits in 1924. Esperanza and her mother must flee their ranch and her evil uncles, with the help of their loyal servants. She loses every privilege she had when she crosses the river to Southern California, where she must confront her own issues of class ism and work to save her mother's life. Very exciting book! The friendship between Miguel. the son of her family's servants, helps Esperanza learn that they are equals in their newly adopted country. The author tells us that this is a fictionalized account of how her real Abuelita came to the United States, which makes the story even more enjoyable. Can't wait to have my students read this book!
http://www.amazon.com/Esperanza-Rising-Pam-Munoz-Ryan/dp/043912042X

Uses in School:
This is a great book to use during Mexican Heritage month and also so students can understand other minorities hardships. It is a really great read for class level ages 6th-8th. I really enjoyed reading this book.

Ryan, Pam Munoz. (2002)."Esperanza Rising". New York: Scholastic Press.


"Looking for Alaska" by John Green

Summary: At boarding school Miles's life changes drastically when he not only makes new friends but falls in love for the first time. But an even bigger change is after the tragic accident happens.
My Impressions: I love this book. It relates to teenagers everywhere. It is an all around great book. Tragic but beautiful. A way to show that no matter what you can find your way.

Reviews:

Kirkus Reviews

The Alaska of the title is a maddening, fascinating, vivid girl seen through the eyes of Pudge (Miles only to his parents), who meets Alaska at boarding school in Alabama. Pudge is a skinny ("irony" says his roommate, the Colonel, of the nickname) thoughtful kid who collects and memorizes famous people's last words. The Colonel, Takumi, Alaska and a Romanian girl named Lara are an utterly real gaggle of young persons, full of false starts, school pranks, moments of genuine exhilaration in learning and rather too many cigarettes and cheap bottles of wine. Their engine and center is Alaska, given to moodiness and crying jags but also full of spirit and energy, owner of a roomful of books she says she's going to spend her life reading. Her center is a woeful family tragedy, and when Alaska herself is lost, her friends find their own ways out of the labyrinth, in part by pulling a last, hilarious school prank in her name. What sings and soars in this gorgeously told tale is Green's mastery of language and the sweet, rough edges of Pudge's voice. Girls will cry and boys will find love, lust, loss and longing in Alaska's vanilla-and-cigarettes scent. (Fiction. YA)

Publishers Weekly

Teenager Miles chronicles his first year at boarding school. According to PW, "The novel's chief appeal lies in Miles's well-articulated lust (for Alaska, the title girl) and his initial excitement about being on his own for the first time." Ages 14-up. (Jan.) Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Looking-for-Alaska/John-Green/e/9780525475064

Uses in School: A great teen novel. Great discussion book for junior high and high school aged students.

Green, John. (2005). "Looking for Alaska". The Penguin Group: New York, NY.