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Quote by Pam Muñoz Ryan

Work

Esperanza Rising

Esperanza Rising is a poignant tale of resilience and growth. The story is narrated by Esperanza, a Mexican-American girl whose family's fortune is suddenly depleted during the economic turmoil of the 1930s. Forced to leave her privileged life behind, Esperanza and her family migrate to the United States, where they face the challenges of a new culture and a harsh economic climate. The novel explores themes of identity, family, and the strength of the human spirit in the face of adversity. more

Author

Pam Muñoz Ryan

Pam Muñoz Ryan is an American writer renowned for her children's literature. Born on December 11, 1951, she has a passion for literature from a young age. Her works often explore historical, cultural, and social issues, enjoying great popularity among readers. more

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“With every second that went past, with every sentence she spoke, she felt a little strength flowing back. And now that she was doing something difficult and familiar and never quite predictable, namely lying, she felt a sort of mastery again, the same sense of complexity and control that the alethiometer gave her. She had to be careful not to say anything obviously impossible; she had to be vague in some places and invent plausible details in others; she had to be an artist, in short.”

“A few hours later, the five-year-old girl who'd presented with diarrhea, weight loss, and terrible stomach cramping was throwing up a foot-long worm into a bucket and looking very pleased with herself. She spoke not a word of English but kept pointing to herself then the worm then herself and grinning. Her mother, who also spoke not a word of English, was doing the same, gesticulating wildly back and forth between daughter and worm, but her face wore the opposite expression. She was not screaming in a language Rosie knew, but she understood clear as lagoons anyway the mother's horror of his worm that had lately come out of her little girl. If they'd spoken the same language, Rosie would have laid her hand on the woman's shoulder to commiserate: Oh the things that hide secretly in our children, lying in wait, doing untold damage, yearning to be free. Alarming us beyond all measure.”

“Parents often complain that their adult childhood won't let them change. Children don't want their parents to move from the home in which they grew up, or convert their old bedrooms into offices. They refuse to take their cartons out of the attic or basement and become angry at even the suggestion that their parents might show them away. We are more focused on our parents as the repositories of our childhoods, which we want to hold on to, than on the sacrifices they made for us that they might no longer want to make—such as using their own bedroom or the dining rooms as an office so we could have a bedroom.”