The House on Mango Street Paperback – April 3, 1991

The House on Mango Street Book ReviewThe House on Mango Street, a coming of age book by Sandra Cisneros that takes you through years in the life of Esperanza Cordero, while she is living on Mango Street in Chicago, Illinois. The book is written in many short stories or vignettes of two to three pages rather than one long novel of chapters. You learn who Esperanza is as she is figuring herself out. Although the house on Mango Street is an improvement from past houses. Esperanza hopes for a better one in the future and feels like she does not belong there.Esperanza has trouble defining herself. At the beginning of the book, she doesn't like her name and tries to defy everything she thinks she is “supposed” to be. Esperanza calls her name a “muddy color,” saying it means sadness and waiting. She was named after her great-grandmother, she had a life looking out the window. Esperanza had inherited her name but did not want to inherit the spot by the window.Esperanza meets many people throughout the book. Mamacita, who never leaves her house because she is frightened of English. Cathy, who is the “queen of cats,” Meme Ortiz, the man who moved into Cathy’s house when she moved out, Sally her best friend, and Nenny her younger sister. All these people taught Esperanza lessons about life and helped shape the impact Mango Street had on her.Throughout The House on Mango Street, Esperanza experiences a sexual awakening, in the beginning, she is very pure and will only interact with her brothers. But she witnesses her neighbors being abused and knows that she wants to get away from that. The “Monkey Garden” was a place felt safe and could be a kid, but that was then taken when some boys stole sally’s keys and made her kiss all of them to get them back. She then loses her innocence, after being raped by a man at the carnival when her friend Sally leaves her there.In the end, Esperanza talks to Alicia, a girl studying in college, and Alicia tells her that even if you do not like the house on Mango Street you will come back to it, no matter how ashamed you are of it now. Esperanza vows that she will leave Mango Street but will come back to it for the neighbors and friends. She could never forget where she came from. Esperanza has changed through this book and went from being a kid to becoming a young adult.I really enjoyed this book because it was an easy read, but there was a lot to take from it. The book gave me a new view on growing up in different neighborhoods, and the struggles others face that I do not. It teaches you what it is like to live life in a less desirable neighborhood. I would recommend this book to young readers or if you enjoy books about facing reality. The book was very touching and written in a unique way.

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros is Timeless by Mitzy SkyThe House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros was recommended reading for me by my instructor, Christina Chiu, author of Beauty and Troublemaker and Other Saints, during the 2023 Yale Writers’ Workshop. After reading my submission for the workshop, Christina advised me that she needed me to show the story and not tell it. I am so grateful to her for introducing me to The House on Mango Street. Sandra Cisneros’ description of showing you her story and not just telling you allowed me to be there on Mango Street with her. The House on Mango Street is now part of me, and it feels like it has always been there waiting for me to remember her. While reading it, I was taken back in my mind to all the neighborhoods I lived in growing up in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and the place that I can go to whenever I need to is my big yard with my little board house down the lane off the big road in Bogwalk St. Catherine Jamaica. I have been granted by grace this peace to live this human experience fully and allow my spirit to have a home in the body, heart, and mind where I live, here and now. I recommend anyone searching for stillness to read this little book, which will be your biggest treasure!

A novella and a coming of age tale that feels dated. Clearly the experiences of being an outsider are somewhat universal but not eternal. Our world and our cities have changed and describing the 1980s experience does not resonate 40 years later.

I am lesson planning for my last class on The House on Mango Street. This book is powerful. So, so powerful. So much so that I have chills while typing up my student's last essay rubric.My students are mostly first-generation Americans from Eastern Asia, a few are immigrants themselves. They were able to connect with Esperanza in a real way. While Esperanza is Chicana, the straddling of culture she deals with is something they know intimately. It's been eye-opening to read this with them. In all honesty, I've learned more through them, than they probably did through me... and I feel like that's what SHOULD happen.As a supplement, I have had them read other literature written by POC. And it's been heavy. And I'm so glad I decided to accept the invitation to teach this course. It's changed me.So, as I sit here, on the brink of tears, all because of the power of literature... the strength of words... I realize how sheltered I, myself, have been. My eyes have been opened.I will always be an ally to those whose experiences are different from mine. Because they are all so very important.I'm being serious. Read from different cultures. Read from people who have different life experiences than you do. Fall into the beauty of words. And from those words, learn empathy (because it CAN be learned).THIS is why I love literature. THIS is why I think reading fiction is so important. While it's fiction, there are so many truths to be found.Some of the reviews did not understand how deeply this must be read. They felt that it was just a bunch of haphazardly thrown-together vignettes. But, this book begs you to read between the lines. It's not haphazard, it's brilliant. If you can read it for the inner meaning, the themes that emerge are absolutely stunning. This is not a light beachy read. This book begs you to use your intelligence and find the meaning in what Cisneros doesn't say, as much as what she does say. Bravo!

Not sure this was a new copy. Book jacket on this hardcover was dirty and the book also had bent pages.

The preface is awesome.The book: some pieces are much stronger than others.If you love Mango, though... read her poetry!I feel she is really a poet most of all.Read My Wicked, Wicked Ways and Woman Without Shame.The poetry is where it's at.