The House on Mango Street

The House on Mango Street

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, ISBN 0-679-73477-5, Vintage Contemporaries 1991

Plot Summary:

The plot centers on Esperanza Cordero, a young Mexican girl whose age is not revealed, and the neighbors and friends she has in her new neighborhood. The stories she tells about her neighbors are never resolved, just little glimpses into their lives the way Esperanza sees it. She sees her neighbors and her neighborhood as a reflection of her own life and write about what she sees in an effort to pass the time and understand what life is all about. As she grows up, she makes friends with a girl named Sally who is much different from her. Sally likes to wear long black stockings and she uses the attention she gets from boys as a way to escape her father. Esperanza and Sally go to a fair, and Sally leaves Esperanza to go hang out with a boy. Esperanza ends up getting hurt, and the experience helps her make choices as she grows older to help reconcile who she is with who she wants to become.

Critical Evaluation:

The structure of the novel is different from many other books. Esperanza’s stories are told in vignettes. Some are shorter, some are longer, and some are told in rhyme. This structure might not work for reluctant or poor readers, but older teens will able to follow the stories. One of the major themes is what the house represents to Esperanza. After moving around a lot when she was little, her parents promised her a big house. She’s disappointed with the house on Mango Street, and it becomes a metaphor for the life she feels trapped in and determined to escape. She has to promise herself that she will someday buy herself a big house so that she can have the kind of life she’s always dreamed of. Esperanza is also a keen viewer of gender roles. She watches the women of her neighborhood be controlled by men, usually their husbands, and, even as a child, she takes these stories to heart and is determined to be an independent woman when she becomes an adult. The sexual abuse in the story is especially brutal. When Esperanza is assaulted after the fair, this only furthers her dream of escaping Mango Street and the poverty and misogyny she’s experienced and witnessed. Cisneros creates a community of well developed characters and young adults will surely find a person or experience to which they can relate.

Reader’s Annotation:

Esperanza dreams of a better life than the one she has on Mango Street. Will she ever find the home she’s looking for?

Information about the Author:

From the author’s website :

Sandra Cisneros is the author of several books including The House on Mango Street,Caramelo, Loose Woman, and, most recently, Have You Seen Marie?.

She is the founder of two organizations that serve writers, the Macondo Foundation (now administered by the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center) and the Alfredo Cisneros del Moral Foundation.

Sandra is also the founder of the Latino MacArthur Fellows (Los MacArturos).

She has been honored with numerous awards including the MacArthur Fellowship, twoNational Endowment for the Arts Fellowships, and a Texas Medal of the Arts.

Sandra has been writing for more than 45 years, publishing for more than 40, and earning her living by her pen for more than 20 years. Her books have been translated into more than twenty languages and published internationally.

Genre:

Coming of age, Mexican literature, family drama

Curriculum Ties:

Sexual abuse,, definition of home, values of friendship

Challenge Issues:

This book might be challenged because of its inclusion of sexual abuse.

Creating a Defense:

• Make sure you have thorough knowledge of the library’s selection policy as well as a copy on hand. Your insight as well as pointing out specific portions of the policy will be helpful in discussion with the patron.
• Always have the library Bill of Rights close to show the patron your library’s commitment to providing all kinds of information.
• Have some reveiws on hand, both good and bad, from respected sources like YALSA or Amazon so both you and the patron can gain an understanding of both sides of the issue.
• Make sure you’re familiar with the books that might be challenged. Be prepared to discuss the book’s intended audience, its educational significance, purpose, and also some alternative titles to read.
• Don’t get defensive. The librarian can’t take the challenge personally and either party getting upset will cause the discussion to devolve into a fight.
• LISTEN. Even if you don’t agree with the patron, their views are as valid as yours and should be respected.

Reading Level:

Ages 14+

Booktalking Ideas:

Do you think what happens to Esperanza after the fair is Sally’s fault? What are your hopes and dreams and how do they correlate with the life you have now?

Why is the material included?:

It’s always important to include literature written by many ethnicities. This book is both hopeful and sad and will resonate with most teenagers due to it's main character’s aspirations of a better life once she moves out of her parents’ house. 

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