Title of Book: Who Stole the Wizard of Oz

Title of Book: Esperanza Rising Author: Pam Munoz Ryan Fiction Level V 253 pages Major Minor Setting Summarized Problem or Solution Characters Characters Esperanza Sixto Ortega El Rancho De Esperanza Ortega's happy life on her family's large ranch in Mexico ends abruptly with the murder of her father. Forced Ortega Abuelita las Rosas in to flee their land and her greedy uncles who take it over, thirteen-year-old Esperanza and her mother escape with their Miguel Marisol Rodriguez Aguascalientes, former servants — her father's foreman Alfonso, his wife Hortensia, and their sixteen-year-old son Miguel — to a Ramona Alfonso Mexico migrant camp in California. Abuelita, Esperanza's beloved grandmother, must stay in Mexico because of an injury that Ortega Hortensia makes it difficult for her to travel. Life in the agricultural camps is a hard adjustment, and when Mama falls ill from Tío Luis and Tío exhaustion and the new climate, it is up to Esperanza to earn money by working in the packing sheds as well as helping Marco with the chores of their new extended family in the farm camp. The transformation she undergoes from a pampered rich Juan and Josafina girl to a hardworking and compassionate young woman happens slowly as Esperanza struggles to understand her new Isabel life. Readers will gain a deep understanding of the historical forces of the Depression, labor strikes, and the immigrant Pepe and Lupe experience in Southern California in the 1930s through Esperanza's story. The importance of family ties is underscored Marta when Miguel returns secretly to Mexico bringing Abuelita north for a grand reunion with Esperanza and her mother. Chapter 1 1924 2 Las Uvas (Grapes) Key tendril pg.1 cluster -5 premonition -9 camisole-10 sprawl-11 aroma-14 Vocabulary incline -2 court-7 serenade-9 adobe-10 scold-11 tallow-21 scythe -4 vicious -8 congregate -9 horizon-10 capricious-13 beacon-21 arbor -5 distinguished pg.13 torment-22 Summary Papa tells seven-year-old Esperanza that the earth is alive and she can feel its heartbeat if she listens. Esperanza is impatient at first. Papa tells her she must be quiet and still. Papa says .wait a little while and the fruit will fall into your hand.. Esperanza feels happy as she lies on the ground and hears the earth’s heartbeat.

Esperanza is allowed to cut the first bunch of grapes to begin the harvest. Each year Mama and Papa hold a big party to celebrate the harvest and her birthday. Esperanza waits for Papa to return from harvest one night in the rose garden. Esperanza and Mama are nervous that Papa has not returned yet. Mama and Hortensia join Abuelita and Esperanza in the study. Tío Luis and Tío Marco arrive with Papa’s one of a kind belt buckle, which someone has found. Every one becomes worried. Soon, Miguel and Alfonso return. They have Papa.s body in the back of their wagon. Papa has been killed. Questions 1. What does Papa mean when he tells Esperanza that, “Our land is alive”? 2. Why does Esperanza's father have a special feeling for his land? Do you think every landowner in Mexico felt the "heartbeat" of the earth? 3. What did Esperanza really feel when she lay down upon the earth to feel the “Earth’s heartbeat”? Try lying on the floor at home and press your ear to the floor. What do you hear? 4. Describe what you have learned about Esperanza’s life in Mexico at El Rancho de las Rosas. 5. What is the danger that papa faces which makes mama and Esperanza uneasy about papa being late? (pg.10-12) 6. Describe what kind of Grandmother Abuelita is to Esperanza. Compare Abuelita to your Grandmother, or an older woman who loves you the way that Abuelita loves Esperanza. 7. What are the challenges of Esperanza and Miguel becoming engaged to be married? 8. What do you think had happened to Papa when he was brought home? Chapter 3 The Papayas Key anguish-23 quivery-25 cordial pg.26 batiste pg.28 composure pg.29 proposal pg.31 throttle pg.35 Vocabulary melodic pg.23 condolence-26 rosary-27 encroaching pg.29 indignation-30 regret pg.32 reputation pg.36 ambushed pg.24 fragrance pg.26 methodically pg.27 crochet-29 customary pg.30 pretentious pg.33 pungent pg.38 Summary Esperanza’s days are filled with grief and mourning. Tío Luis and Tío Marco come each day to take care of business in Papa’s study. Papa has left the house and the income from the grapes to Mama and Esperanza. However, the land is left to Tío Luis since he is the bank president and the banker on the loan. Tío Luis tells Mama that he wants to buy the house from her. Mama is outraged by Tío Luis’s offer because she does not want to leave her home and it is worth much more that he offers. Tío Luis asks her to marry him instead. Mama tells him that she will never marry him and. Mama decides that if the income from the grapes can support the house and servants she will stay. Esperanza goes outside and meets Miguel. Miguel tells her that his family will probably go to the United States. Questions 1. Have you ever comforted someone who was sad? What can be done to help someone who is sad? What does Hortensia do for Esperanza when she is sad? (pg. 25-26) 2. Do you think that Tio Luis can be trusted to handle the business affairs of El Rancho de las Rosas? 3. How did you feel when Tio Luis suggested marrying Esperanza’s mother? Do you feel that this would be a good choice for Esperanza’s mother to make, or a bad choice? Why? 4. Why does Tio Luis wish to marry Ramona Ortega ( Esperanza’s mother)? (pg. 32-33) 5. What will Hortensia, Alfonso and Miguel do? Miguel tells Esperanza about his family’s plan in the garden (pg. 36), but why do you think they choose to go to America instead of staying in Mexico? Chapter 4 Los Higos Key embrace pg.39 enveloped crochet penetrate salvaged pestle options forbid pg.48 myths pg.50 Vocabulary suffocate crouched pg.41 deliberate rubble pg.43 survey fierce pg. 44 intend duplicates pg.49 correspondence pg.51 toward pg.40 blackened pg.42 encased pg.43 smoldering mortar consulting pg.46 income pg.47 prevent donate pg.52 Summary Questions 1. Explain why Esperanza was dreaming of being chased, crushed, smothered, and shaken by a bear. What was happening when she woke that might make her dream that? 2. The author uses the word “enveloped” on page 41. What do the words “enveloped” and “envelope” have in common? 3. Have you ever felt, “…encased in a thick skin that nothing could penetrate”? Why did you feel that way? What had happened? 4. Explain what makes Mama’s face change from “fierce” to “not so fierce” on page 45. What would make Mama consider Tio Luis’s marriage proposal? 5. Does Esperanza support her Mama’s decision to leave Mexico and go to California in America? Why or why not? 6. When Tio Luis visited on page 53/54, why did Ramona (Mama) tell Tio Luis that she agreed to marry him? Chapter 5 Las Guayabas Key emerged pg.58 reluctantly persistent pg. 62 compartment reeked escort pg. 67 scorn pg.70 monotonous anxiously pg. 74 Vocabulary departure adjust pg.61 possession pg.63 jostled pg.65 grimy undulating pg.68 soiled weary influence pg.75 hesitated pg.59 exhale mesmerized pg. 64 thicket pg. 66 alms valise pg.69 disapproval pg.72 irritable permitted pg.76 Summary Questions 1. Hortensia does something clever to distract Esperanza from panicking. What does Hortensia do to soothe Essperanza’s fear of the small space in the wagon? 2. The author, Pam Munoz Ryan describes many times during the trip to Zacatecas that Esperanza is uncomfortable. Why does Ms. Ryan write about these times? 3. Why do you think Miguel frowned after Esperanza said, “We cannot travel in this car. It is not clean, and the people do not look trustworthy”? (pg. 67) 4. Is Esperanza a snob? Why do you, or don’t you think so? 5. How are Esperanza and Miguel different? Find several of each character’s actions and compare them. What do Esperanza’s actions tell you about her? What do Miguel’s actions tell you about him? Chapter 6 Los Melones Key disembarked pg.81 stagnant limp pg.85 cherubs pg.88 nauseous pg.92 peasant pg.96 Vocabulary panorama perspiration complexion pg.86 barren pg.90 revealing pg.94 finery barren demeanor pg.82 irritated pg.87 sparse spacious “banding together” escorted prodded pg.83 reassuring reassuring pg.91 caravan pg.98 Summary Questions 1. Why would Esperanza and her mother have to wait in a long immigration line while, “…people in the first cars” got to go to the short immigration lines? 2. Mama is treated rudely by the immigration official. How does Mama react to the rude man? 3. What might be in the mysterious package that Miguel keeps getting wet? 4. Have you ever been met when coming to a new place by people who love you? How might Hortensia, Miguel, and Alfonso feel when their train is met by Alfonso’s brother? 5. Why does Esperanza feel so upset when she cannot hear the heartbeat of the Earth? Is that really why she’s crying, or is there another reason? Chapter 7 Las Cebollas Key loomed pg.100 miserable pg.104 several crochet assured pg.116 humiliation pg.117 Vocabulary pang pg.101 bestowed provided pg.110 accosting pg.114 unrelenting ridicule solemnly deduct pg.107 disappointment pg.111 vigorously brittle positioned pg.119 adjust pg.103 hesitantly pg. 109 recalling pg.113 wrung retrieved Summary Questions 1. Why is it so difficult for Esperanza to accept her new home, the cabin at the camp? 2. If you were Esperanza, would you enjoy looking after the babies? Why or why not? 3. Describe camp life. 4. Isabel and Esperanza make a deal at the end of, “Las Cebollas”. Why is this deal important to Esperanza?