Showing results by author "Pam Muñoz Ryan" in All Categories

Audie Award, Middle Grade, 2016. Lost and alone in the forbidden Black Forest, Otto meets three mysterious sisters and suddenly finds himself entwined in a puzzling quest involving a prophecy, a promise, and a harmonica. Decades later Friedrich in Germany, Mike in Pennsylvania, and Ivy in California each become sinterwoven when the very same harmonica lands in their lives, binding them by an invisible thread of destiny. All the children face daunting challenges: rescuing a father, protecting a brother, holding a family together.

Esperanza Ortega possesses all the treasures a young girl in Aguascalientes, Mexico could want. But a sudden tragedy shatters that dream, forcing Esperanza and Mama to flee to California and settle in a Mexican farm labor camp. There they confront the challenges of hard work, acceptance by their own people, and economic difficulties brought on by the Great Depression. Pam Munoz Ryan eloquently portrays the Mexican workers' plight in this abundant and passionate novel.

Esperanza Ortega tiene todos los tesoros que una chica pueda desear: hermosos vestidos, una linda casa llena de sirvientes en México, y la promesa de que un día llegará a presidir el Rancho como su mamá. Pero una tragedia inesperada destruye ese sueño, obligando a Esperanza y a su madre a escapar a California dónde tendrán que trabajar en una finca junto a otros mexicanos. Allí tendrá que olvidar su pasado y enfrentarse a las nuevas realidades de su vida: trabajo duro, aceptación y dificultades económicas. Esperanza descubrirá que la verdadera riqueza está en la familia y la comunidad.

Charlotte Parkhurst was raised in the mid-1800s and was expected to live her life without the freedoms she dreamed of. But Charlotte was smart and determined, and she figured out a way to live her life the way she wanted; Charlotte became an expert horse rider, a legendary stagecoach driver, and the first woman ever to vote - at a time when such things were outlawed for women.

Max loves stories, especially the fantastical tale Buelo tells him about a mystical gatekeeper who can guide brave travellers on a journey into tomorrow. If Max could see tomorrow, he would know if he'd make Santa Maria's celebrated fútbol team, and whether he'd ever find his mother, who left when he was a baby. Papa refuses to talk about her, so Max has learned to stop asking. But when Papa is forced to reveal his involvement in an underground network of guardians that led people fleeing a neighboring country to safety, everything Max knew about himself and his family is upended.

Neftalí’s father wants him to be a doctor. But Neftalí is not like other children. How he reconciles his own dreams with his father’s is at the heart of this profoundly moving story of the life of poet Pablo Neruda.

Tony Baloney is a rambunctious macaroni penguin with a tremendous imagination. The middle child in his family, Tony always has to take orders from his big sister and watch out for his younger siblings. But with his trusty stuffed friend Dandelion around, Tony is sure that he won’t get ignored in his family - even if it means getting into a little bit of trouble first.

A puzzling photograph, a box filled with faded toy horses, and a single fractured memory are all that Maya has left of her mother. In Grandmother's house in California, she lives like a captive, tethered by Grandmother's rules: no talk of her mother, no friends, no foolishness of any kind...until a shocking event changes everything.

I always thought that the biggest trial in my life was my name, Naomi Guadalupe Zamora Outlaw, but little did I know that it was the least of my problems, or that someday I would live up to it.

The award-winning author of Esperanza Rising talks about her stunning new book, a fictional biography of Pablo Neruda's younger years that combines elements of magical realism with poetry, history and literary fiction. This inspirational book beautifully depicts how the awkward, shy, imaginative Chilean schoolboy Neftali Reyes, mesmerized by the natural world, became the world-renowned poet Pablo Neruda. Rita Wolf will perform an excerpt from the novel.