Multicultural Review

The House On Mango Street
By: Sandra Cisnero


Annotation:
Short stories as told by main character Esperanza Cordero, about friends, family, neighbors and growing up in a Latino neighborhood in Chicago in the early 1980s.

Justification For Nomination:

The House on Mango Street is told through first person by main character Esperanza Cordero.  Esperanza is a young chicana girl who shares her experiences and observations while living in her new house on Mango Street in a Latino neighborhood in Chicago.  Broken up into short stories, Esperanza tells about her observations in the neighborhood.  She tells of different people, including neighbors, friends and family members.  Through describing these different characters, she shows the very different roles of men and women in her neighborhood and the Latino culture.  Esperanza's stories show the ups and downs of the low income neighborhood she lives in.  Her stories about the women in her neighborhood represent possible outcomes for her future, and she ultimately realizes that she is her only way out of the neighborhood and she should not rely on a husband to get her out.  She hopes that one day her great ability to write will help take her out of the neighborhood and to a better life.  Esperanza shows growth and maturity through the stories, at first her stories were about other female friends and relatives, then she moves to identifying with her father, and finally identifying with the four trees in her front yard that are stuck in the neighborhood, feeling like she is stuck too.  The observations that she makes through the stories, also show growth and maturity.  In the beginning of the book, her observations are naive and childlike, while later on towards the end of the book, her observations become mature and more realistic.  The biggest change in her observations is how she views sex and boys.  In the beginning of the book, she is naive about sex and boys.  Throughout the book there is a gradual shift as Esperanza matures, she becomes more aware of sexuality and boys. This book deserves nomination because of the depth of not only the main character Esperanza, but also the depth of the short stories.  

Genre Category:
Multicultural/coming of age