Esperanza Rising Quotes

Abuelita smiled, reached over, and pulled the yarn, unravelling all of Esperanza's rows. "Do not be afraid to start over," she said. (2.38)

She pressed closer to the ground, until her body was breathing with the earth's. And with Papa's. The three hearts beating together. (1.15)

"They don't want us banding together for higher wages or better housing," said Marta. "The owners think if Mexicans have no hot water, that we won't mind as long as we think no one has any." (6.97)

They [the campesinos] were covered top to bottom, in long-sleeved shirts, baggy pants tied at the ankles with string, and bandanas wrapped around their foreheads and necks to protect them from the...

"We have little money and Hortensia, Alfonso, and Miguel are no longer our servants. We are indebted to them for our finances and our future. And that trunk of clothes for the poor? Esperanza, it's...

"Aguántate tantito y la fruta caerá en tu mano," he said. "Wait a little while and the fruit will fall into your hand. You must be patient, Esperanza." (1.10)

After their Quinceañeras, they would be old enough to be courted, marry, and become las patronas, the heads of their households, rising to the positions of their mothers before them. (2.11)

Esperanza suddenly felt guilty and did not want to admit that she had never noticed or that it might be true. Besides, they were going to the United States now and it certainly would not be true th...

"Esperanza, people here think that all Mexicans are alike. They think that we are all uneducated, dirty, poor, and unskilled. It does not occur to them that many have been trained in professions in...