The house on Mango Street

Additional The house on Mango Street Information

"It's not always that a luscious writer can be a luscious reader of her own work. This must be the voice she hears in her head when she writes her magical prose."
-Julia Alvarez, author of How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents

Listen as Sandra Cisneros brings to life The House on Mango Street, her 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.

The House on Mango Street tells the story of Esperanza Cordero, whose neighborhood is one of harsh realities and hard 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.

This timeless classic is now available, for the first time, unabridged. And what makes this a particularly special audio production is the fact that the author, Sandra Cisneros, reads.

What Customers Say About The house on Mango Street:

This book had a bigger emotional impact than any other book I read in high school. For some reson I couldn't put it down. This book was assigned reading in my Junior English class, over 10 years ago. I love the style it is written in. I absolutely loved it. Even though my childhood was different than Esperanza's, I still felt that I could relate to some of the themes in the book. The prose has such a poetic feel to it at times. I have read it again a few times since high school, and even thought it didn't have as strong an impact on me, I still enjoy it to this day.

I asked the seller to process a refund instead. I contacted the seller twice. This is the confirmation I got: "available to ship by April 30,2009".It is May 30th and I don't have the book yet. So far I have no book and no refund. No response the first time, then on May 27 he wrote to say that he had not shipped the item yet. This is a book I needed for a class I attend 4 times a week. I am not buying from Pepitone ever again, and will think twice before buying from Amazon.com again as I now know that one could get stranded when buying a book online that one really needs. Next time I'll take a trip to the Barnes and Nobles store near me.

The House on Mango Street is dedicated to 'las mujeres'. However, stories of the life of women (and the main character, Esperanza) on Mango street are superfluously written, punctuated with goofy stream of consciousness narration and misplaced metaphors. Seems as if Cisneros uses her Latino heritage as an excuse to write a book and does not manage to bring any of her characters to life.

Well, this book does have a story; the maturing of a young girl in a tough environment. He's never had the slightest interest in any children's book with a Caldecott or Newbery medallion on the cover. You have to keep in mind how rare this kind of writing was back then. Books like Mango Street are just so darn, well, literary.

Cisneros's voice was, and is, unique. That's appealing to a great many adult readers -- I like YA fiction -- but not so to a child who wants some forward momentum in a book. This book reminds me of the children's picture book Olivia; an engaging main character but no real story. If my son finds this book on his required reading list some day, I know exactly what his reaction will be: What the hey. I do wish he could choose stories that are more relevant to his life. It's hard to evaluate this book 25 years after it was written.

Young adult fiction wasn't set in gritty, ethnic neighborhoods. Ms.

In elementary school, everything was set in the backwoods. I doubt that his aversion to literary fiction will change as he moves into young adulthood.

But today, as our inner cities continue to deteriorate, I wonder if this lyrical tale comes across as just too poetic about the deprivations of poverty and the psychological fallout from physical and sexual cruelty. I enjoyed the vignettes of Esperanza's day-to-day life in her Latino neighborhood.

But as with many books school children are asked to read -- such as Because of Winn-Dixie -- the action is mostly in the protagonist's head. I see that another up-from-poverty story, The Color of Water 10th Anniversary Edition, also appears on reading lists in my son's school.

I guess in the upper grades, it will all be the inner city.

society. The experiences that Esperanza has are great examples of what teenagers today may be going through.

Esperanza as well as other boys and girls live their life in the small containment of Mango Street. The book shows how Esperanza goes through puberty and how she transforms from a young girl to a mature woman.

Cisneros wrote this book describing the memories and experiences of a young woman named Esperanza, who grows up in a Latino neighborhood in Chicago. This book is a great read for mostly teenagers because they can relate to the lives that they are living.

She makes and loses many friends during this process which helps her to see herself for who she is.I enjoyed reading this book. This book can be read and enjoyed by people of all ages.

I would recommend this book to readers who like to read books about love, sex, and romance as well as person vs. -review-Alex Lomaglio