(image via goodreads.com)
Citation
Cisneros, Sandra. The
House on Mango Street. New York: Vintage Books, 1984. Print.
Awards
- 1985, Before Columbus Foundation's American Book Award
A young Latina girl talks about her family and Chicago neighborhood
in a series of short vignettes.
Booktalk
“We didn’t always live on Mango Street. Before that we
lived on Loomis on the third floor, and before that we lived on Keeler. Before
Keeler it was Paulina, and before that I can’t remember. But what I remember
most is moving a lot. Each time it seemed there’d be one more of us. By the time
we got to Mango Street we were six – Mama, Papa, Carlos, Kiki, my sister Nenny
and me.” (3)
Esperanza is just becoming a woman. She spends her days
with her younger sister Nenny and her girlfriends from the street. She shares
stories about the people in her Chicago neighborhood: the old man who owns the
junk shop; Elinita, the witch woman; Rosa Vargas and all her children. The
chapters are little stories on their own, but they add up to create a picture
of the people and neighborhood she loves and calls home. She talks about
getting hips, and her plans to get to eat lunch at school, instead of at home,
and lying about her age to get her first job. Her world is full and lush, and
even though she is telling her stories, you can see parts of your own life in
them too.
(video by jemurillo93 at youtube.com)
