Book Review: Esperanza Rising

Today's book review is brought to you by three of the most photogenic beagles on the East Coast. The Petfinder pages for some of these dogs are unreal. "Send us a begging, pleading letter and maybe we'll get back to you at our convenience to discuss selling you a pup that resembles the picture for $500"? Who do these shelter people think they are? Whom are they saving these allegedly homeless beagles for--Fauci? The fact that I rejected some pictures from consideration, because the pages looked so phishy, in no way implies that the purported rescuers of the selected dogs are legitimate or will not be collecting and selling any information you give them. Nor does it imply that they won't try to charge fees more appropriate for, say, 18-karat gold jewelry than for stray dogs. Anyway beagles are cute.

Zipcode 10101, New York: Copper is described as a four-year-old, forty-pound male who's already been neutered and vaccinated, good with other dogs. He is available for "foster" care or adoption. His Petfinder page is https://www.petfinder.com/dog/copper-54805537/ny/ozone-park/heavenly-angels-animal-rescue-ny1047/ .

Zipcode 20202, Washington, D.C.: Shelby is described as also being about four years old, a 32-pound female in search of a permanent home. "Her $350 fee includes vaccinations and spaying" so it might not be outrageous; ask your vet about the cost of those operations for a dog found in a less expensive neighborhood than Potomac. Her Petfinder page is https://www.petfinder.com/dog/shelby-54956952/md/potomac/petconnect-rescue-md250/ .

Zipcode 30303, Atlanta: At the county shelter, all the staff have found time to post about little "Bagel Bite" is that she's a small female puppy. Small size could mean large price since the veterinary care is still ahead. They have other beagle puppies, a younger litter so small that most of their photos haven't even been posted yet, and adult and senior dogs as well...my guess is that this shelter will be very reasonable about letting you pick one of a wide selection of future Best Friends. Contact Bagel Bite's caretakers at https://www.petfinder.com/dog/bagel-bite-54976201/ga/atlanta/fulton-county-animal-services-ga217/ .

Meanwhile, back at the Cat Sanctuary, the Bad Neighbor succeeded in killing some kittens with his poison spray. Other things can go wrong with kittens besides glyphosate, but no, it's not only a coincidence that kittens who seemed healthy before I felt a glyphosate reaction beginning were dead a few hours later. I went out to bury one baby kitten and when I came in one of its litter mates had crawled out of its warm nest and died. 

During the cold snap four of Serena's kittens (she gave birth to six, four born alive) and two of Silver's (she gave birth to five, all premature, one dead, one gruesomely defective) came into the warm room, and I didn't leave. Serena is hostile to the idea of being in a cage but she and Silver behaved perfectly in the office, staying with their babies and venturing out only to summon me for valid reasons. I didn't want to jeopardize this relationship of love and trust by confining the cats where they couldn't feel desperate and look for their own solutions to any problems that might have arisen. So at the other end of the office I brooded over the kittens almost as much as the cats did. Today was warm enough for the kittens--only five, one of Silver's didn't make it--to be returned to their original nest where the cats can come and go. So I finally ventured out again. It wasn't raining when I walked down to the road, but started raining after I joined a car pool and is raining heavily as I type. It had rained earlier in the morning; I'm praying that the rain had washed the glyphosate vapor out of the air so there'll still be five living kittens when I come home. Their eyes aren't open yet but they're starting to crawl around and sniff at their mothers' tracks when left alone. 

The good news, if there is any: All animals that have been studied can react to glyphosate, but dogs seem to be the species least likely to show immediate unmistakable symptoms. (Which is why those corporate labs found it so profitable to extrapolate their estimated safe level of exposure for humans from what seemed like a nearly-safe level of exposure for dogs. Big mistake. Humans in my part of the world show a range of reactions much more similar to rabbits'.)

Now, today's book:

Title: Esperanza Rising

Author: Pam Muñoz Ryan

Date: 2000

Publisher: Scholastic

ISBN: 0-439-57617-2

Length: 253 pages of text plus 9-page historical note and 2 pages of discussion questons

Illustrations by Joe Cepeda

Quote: “‘Your uncles are very powerful and corrupt,’ said Alfonso. ‘They can make things difficult for anyone who tries to help you.’”

Esperanza was a happy little rich girl up into her teen years. Then her father died, and her uncles wanted Esperanza and her mother and grandmother to go away and let them take over her father’s land. So they went to California and became poor laborers.

This historical novel is written to be accessible to middle school children. There’s a hint, but only an age-appropriate hint, of a sweet romance between thirteen-year-old Esperanza and sixteen-year-old Miguel. In Mexico, although they were close, her father’s being his father’s employer put “a river” of social prejudice between them. In California both are poor, and looked down on by everyone outside the labor camp where they live, so they’re free to...enjoy holding hands and thinking about their future.

They won’t always be poor, any more than they’ll always be teenagers, Muñoz Ryan wants us to know. This is a fictionalized reconstruction of her grandmother’s story; the tendency for grandmothers to tell grandchildren about their Teen Romances, if any, when such romances involved the children’s grandfathers, may tell us what Esperanza’s and Miguel’s future will be, but Ryan never specifically tells us so.

Efforts have been made to market history to specific ethnic groups only. This, I think, is a mistake. History is for everybody. Esperanza Rising deserves a place beside Caddie Woodlawn, Johnny Tremain, or Little House on the Prairie. Let middle school students choose their own favorites and their ability to cross gender, ethnic, and regional boundaries may surprise teachers. Sometimes even teenagers like stories that work like windows rather than trying to work like mirrors.