“Esperanza Rising” by Pam Muñoz Ryan is an historical novel portraying the plight of Mexican workers in farm labor camps in California in the 1930s. This title is a great tie in to the themes found in “The Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck, this year’s Big Read in the St. Croix Valley book selection.

The Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest. The Big Read in the St. Croix Valley is presented by ArtReach St. Croix in conjunction with core program partners Valley Bookseller, Stillwater Public Library, St. Croix Festival Theatre, Little Free Library and library branches located in St. Croix Valley communities between St. Croix Falls, WI and Hastings, MN.