Family Book Club: Esperanza Rising

Last night we finally had our Family Book Club for the book Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan. We actually finished reading it over a week ago, but life was too crazy with end of the school year activities and I didn't feel like I could do justice to book club too. It was better to wait and do it right. The book is about a Mexican girl who has to move to America and become a migrant worker. So we talked about migrant workers then (1930's) and now. We also talked a little about whether striking is good or bad. The book is mainly about making the most of where ever your life takes you. For our activities we made homemade tortillas because they are always making them in the book. We also ate grapes, cantaloupe, and papaya. Each chapter of the book is titled by the name of a fruit or vegetable depending on what's ripe during the time period it's talking about. I didn't realize I had never bought papaya before. We didn't even know how to cut it up! So I gave that job to Tyson and he figured it out. It was fun having everyone help make our mexican dinner (we just had tacos with homemade tortillas and fresh salsa.) Zac helped cut up the topping, Garrett browned the meet, Lexi cooked the tortillas and Drake kneaded the dough. It's much harder to make round tortillas than I imagined (this was our first attempt.) Take note of the amazing photobomb in the one with Lexi cooking them! Those silly boys!

After dinner we had our discussion time and then made yarn dolls. In the book dolls are an important theme and Esperanza's mother makes yarn dolls for poor kids. The book had instructions on how to do it, but we weren't expecting them to turn out quite so creepy! They looked cute in the book but more like voodoo dolls in real life! Oh well, I'm sure it will be memorable. "Remember when we made those really creepy dolls for Family Book Club night?!" "Yeah, mine still haunts my nightmares!" "I've needed therapy for 30 years because of that activity!" etc., etc. 

It was a fun book club and pretty memorable I'm sure. I think we will read Paperboy next. It is a Newberry Honor book that is highly praised by author Rob Buyea who wrote another book that we liked (Because of Mr. Terupt.) And it's about one summer in the life of a boy with a stuttering problem so it should be a good summer read.