Synopses & Reviews
Told in a series of vignettes stunning for their eloquence,
The House on Mango Street is Sandra Cisneros's greatly admired novel of a young girl growing up in the Latino section of Chicago. Acclaimed by critics, beloved by children, their parents and grandparents, taught everywhere from inner-city grade schools to universities across the country, and translated all over the world, it has entered the canon of coming-of-age classics.
Sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes deeply joyous, The House on Mango Street tells the story of Esperanza Cordero, whose neighborhood is one of harsh realities and harsh beauty. Esperanza doesn't want to belong not to her rundown neighborhood, and not to the low expectations the world has for her. Esperanza's story is that of a young girl coming into her power, and inventing for herself what she will become.
Review
"Cisneros draws on her rich heritage...and seduces with precise, spare prose, creat[ing] unforgettable characters...She is not only a gifted writer, but an absolutely essential one." New York Times Book Review
Review
"A deeply moving novel...delightful and poignant...Like the best of poetry, it opens the windows of the heart without a wasted word." Miami Herald
Review
"Marvelous...spare yet luminous. The subtle power of Cisneros's storytelling is evident. She comunicates all the rapture and rage of growing up in a modern world." San Francisco Chronicle
Review
"Sandra Cisneros is one of the most brillant of today's young writers. Her work is sensitive, alert, nuanceful...rich with music and picture." Gwendolyn Brooks
About the Author
Sandra Cisneros was born in Chicago in 1954. Internationally acclaimed for her poetry and fiction, and the recipient of numerous awards, Cisneros is also the author of Woman Hollering Creed and Other Stories and two collections of poetry: My Wicked, Wicked Ways, and Loose Woman.