Feedback On The House On Mango Street

The author of The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros was born in Chicago on December 20, 1954. Cisneros attended Loyola University Chicago and is a poet, novelist, short story writer, and more who has received many awards such as the Texas Medal of the Arts, Chicago’s Fifth Star Award, and Barack Obama presented the National Medal of the Arts to her in 2016. Cisneros has founded two nonprofits and is the organizer of Los MacArturos. Her bildungsroman has sold over six million copies.

After many years of them moving to apartment after apartment, Esperanza Cordero’s family moves into a shabby, red house in a Latino neighborhood. The house shares little to no similarities to Esperanza’s tidy dream home. Esperanza makes many friends throughout the series of 44 vignettes such as Cathy, “Queen of Cats”, who tells Esperanza they can only be friends until Tuesday as her family is moving. Cathy says the neighborhood is going bad as more families like Esperanza’s are moving in, making Cathy and her family one of the many who flee from those of color. Through the use of telling the stories of those in the neighborhood, Esperanza focuses on the lives of the women who watch their life go by from the confines of their homes. Despite Esperanza and her friends encounters with men and their sense of entitlement, they feel the power that accompanies the fear that stems from female sexuality. After a life changing event at the carnival, Esperanza meets three women, resembling The Fates of Greek mythology, who read her palm and help Esperanza understand who she is.

The key character and narrator of the novel, Esperanza, feels enclosed in her primarily Latino neighborhood. She wishes to leave Mango Street, not knowing that home isn’t where you’re from but who you are. Esperanza sees the kindness in everyone in her neighborhood yet remains wary of the men. Although she does want them to notice her, she is torn as she doesn’t want to stand out to them, instead she wants to blend in. One of the girls Esperanza talks to is Marin. Marin was sent to Chicago to live with her cousin and sells products for Avon. Like the majority of the women of the neighborhood, Marin doesn’t get out much but shares her knowledge of boys and feminine experiences with Esperanza and the other girls like Lucy and Rachel.

I recommend this book to those who want to connect with a book that has relatable characters and experiences. The issues those living in the neighborhood face make the book compelling as the reader can be empathetic towards the characters. In addition, teenagers will enjoy this book as it is a bildungsroman, or a coming of age novel. Due to its understandable and approachable nature, I would rate this book a four out of five stars.  

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