Esperanza Ortega lives a luxurious life in Mexico.  Her father is a wealthy landowner, which allows her to live in a spacious home with servants to tend to her every need.  On the eve of her 13th birthday, Esperanza is thinking only about her upcoming fiesta and all the fine presents she will receive from her loving family and friends.  When her beloved father is killed by bandits, however, everything changes.  Grief settles like a pall over the family's ranch.  With their brother out of the way, Esperanza's greedy uncles threaten to kick Esperanza and her mother off the property.  Before she knows it, they are being smuggled out of the country, headed to the United States to find their own way as migrant farm workers.  

Her shocking reversal of fortune makes Esperanza's head spin.  Once, she had her own bedroom filled with expensive toys and fancy dresses.  Now, she shares a cramped shanty with two other families.  Once, servants cleaned up after her.  Now, she does her own sweeping and washing.  Once, her father paid serfs to work in his fields.  Now, Esperanza and her mother are competing with other desperate workers to labor for pennies on someone else's farm.  As she becomes used to her shabby new life in California, Esperanza's eyes are opened to the harsh realities of life as a poverty-stricken immigrant struggling to get ahead in a foreign country already devastated by the Great Depression.  When Esperanza's mother falls desperately ill and rumors of a massive workers' strike threaten the family's only source of income, Esperanza is ready to give up.  She's already overcome so many hardships and struggles.  How can she rise above them?  Will she ever be happy again?

Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan tells an unforgettable riches-to-rags story set against a memorable Great Depression backdrop.  With its focus on Mexican immigrants, the book has a unique angle that feels timely even though it's set in the past.  An atmospheric setting coupled with a cast of sympathetic characters and an engaging storytelling style make the novel an engrossing, empathy-inducing read that is as affecting as it is heartfelt.  Esperanza's growth as a character is the best part of the story as it shows her realistic progression from spoiled princess to pragmatic peasant.  While Ryan's depiction of Mexican migrant life during the Depression might not be entirely realistic (Esperanza's ability to save a large chunk of money in a short amount of time with her meager earnings seems inauthentic, for instance), it's grim enough to get her point across while remaining upbeat enough for a children's book.  Overall, Esperanza Rising is a story about hope, hard work, and finding joy in the things that really matter—family, friendship, traditions, etc.—even in the bleakest of circumstances.  It's a beautiful novel that I very much enjoyed.

A note:  I listened to Esperanza Rising on audio, with Trini Alvarado reading the book.  Her voice is smooth, soothing, and authentic as she seamlessly narrates using both Spanish and English to bring the characters and story to life.  If you're looking for a new book to listen to an audio, I would absolutely recommend this one.

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah, although it's an adult book and much bleaker than Esperanza Rising.  The Land of the Cranes by Aida Salazar and Efrén Divided by Ernesto Cisneros are also great middle-grade reads about the plight of Mexican immigrants in modern America)

As sheriff of Kinship, Ohio, Lily Ross is sworn to protect and serve her small Appalachian community.  She takes her responsibilities seriously, striving to uphold the law in a fair, consistent manner.  When it comes to the popular past-time of making moonshine, however, pragmatic Lily has been known to look the other way a time or two in spite of increasingly restrictive Prohibition laws.  Then, a young boy gets dangerously sick after drinking tainted home-brewed alcohol while guarding a local still.  Lily is appalled.  She vows to find out who is poisoning the moonshine and why.

That's not the only problem on Lily's plate, however.  A special agent from the Bureau of Prohibition who was supposed to show up in Kinship has not yet arrived.  The man is at least missing, possibly dead.  In a move that can't be a coincidence, Lily also discovers that her nefarious brother-in-law, Luther, is working undercover for the Bureau in an effort to take down her least favorite businessman, George Vogel.  Although Lily doubts Luther's intentions, she has a vested interest in seeing Vogel imprisoned.  His new wife, Fiona, seems to feel likewise.  Can she trust Luther and Fiona to help her put their boss and husband behind bars?  Or is Lily just a pawn in their bigger game?  As she attempts to locate a missing agent, figure out just what Vogel is up to, and keep her town safe from tainted alcohol, she also has decide how she feels about a new suitor as well as an old friend who's breaking the law with the habits she swore she'd left behind for good.  Can Lily find a way to solve all the problems in a quaint little town with some big issues?  

I enjoyed the first two books in Jess Montgomery's appealing Kindship series, so I was naturally thrilled to get an early copy of the third installment, The Stills (coming March 9, 2021).  The books feature an atmospheric Appalachian setting, likable characters, and intriguing mysteries.  Although females were extremely rare in law enforcement in the 1920's, Lily makes a believable sheriff.  She's brave, determined, and unfailingly loyal to her community.  In The Stills, she shines once again as she's pitted against powerful men with sinister intentions.  The resulting plot is interesting and exciting, which makes the novel an engrossing read.  While this third book in the series is probably my least favorite, it's still a compelling, well-written historical mystery that I very much enjoyed.

(Readalikes:  Other books in the Kinship series, including The Widows and The Hollows; also reminds me of the Bell Elkins series by Julia Keller)

To the FTC, with love:  I received an e-ARC of The Stills from the generous folks at Macmillan via those at NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  Thank you!

When Augusta "Gus" Monet learns that her great-grandmother has passed away, she feels sad knowing she has no living relatives left, even if she had no great love for the lady herself.  Although the bitter old woman took in 8-year-old Gus after her mother died in a car accident, the crone had little use for children, and immediately sent her ward off to boarding school.  At 20, Gus has become a lonely grifter, following her con artist boyfriend around from city to city and mark to mark.  The inheritance of her great-grandmother's house in Ottawa represents a chance for Gus to make a clean start, sans loser boyfriend.  Without telling him, she goes "home" and takes up residence in a dilapidated house with a loyal mutt named Levi.  

As Gus explores her new digs, she comes across a box of old case files that belonged to her police detective mother.  She remembers her mom spending hours poring over these same papers and photographs, obsessing over the wrongdoings of Kep Halladay, a powerful, small-town senator whose guilt she was desperate to prove.  When Gus starts studying them for herself, she becomes just as caught up in the mystery, just as eager to bring the missing senator—whom she is sure is responsible for her mom's "accident" (among his many sins)—to justice.  Shannon Monet risked her reputation, her career, and eventually her life trying to take the man down.  Can Gus accomplish what her mother couldn't?  

Ignoring ominous "No Trespassing" signs, Gus hikes in to Elgin, the idyllic village where the Halladys once ruled supreme.  Abandoned in the wake of a toxic waste explosion, the place is now a ghost town, its charred streets and storefronts spooky in their post-apocalyptic emptiness.  As Gus explores the ruins, she comes to see that Elgin is not as unoccupied as it seems.  The secrets of the town's tortured past still linger in its poisoned air and someone will go to great lengths to make sure no one—especially not the too curious daughter of a nosy policewoman—sniffs them out.     

My library is open for limited browsing of a small, "curated" selection of books, one of which was Dark August, a debut novel by Katie Tallo.  I hadn't heard of it before but found the plot summary's mention of an abandoned town too intriguing to pass up.  While the setting captured my initial interest, the story sucked me in from word one.  Gus and Levi make an appealing duo and I definitely wanted to know what they were going to do next and how everything was going to turn out for them.  In addition, the plot of Dark August is complex and twisty, the setting is atmospheric and unique, and the vibe is tense and creepy.  How could I not be completely riveted by this well-crafted thriller?  While I did see a few of its plot curves coming, overall I found this novel an absorbing, satisfying read.  As you can imagine, Dark August is not the easiest, most uplifting book in the world, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.  

(Readalikes:  A million titles should be coming to mind, but I'm drawing a blank.  You?)