Life in Mexico is ideal when we first meet Esperanza and her family amidst their vineyards and their love. It all quickly and harshly disappears, though, as her father is murdered and her uncles maneuver to control her mother and the family fortunes. Esperanza and her mother courageously immigrate to the United States and the cruel life that awaits. How much can the shoulders of one thirteen-year-old bear? Ages 10-13 260 pages