burnt orange

Cisneros, S. (1984). The house on mango street. New York City: Knopf Publishing Group, 128 pp.

Hispanic American fiction, American Book Award 1985

possible classroom uses: individual choice, small group, bridge to immigration boom in America

appropriate age range: 9th-12th

Synopsis:
This novella tells the coming-of-age story of Esperanza Cordero. It details her life as Latino girl growing up in Chicago. Cisneros records Esperanza's adventures and misadventures with her neighborhood girlfriends. Esperanza grows up experiencing one harsh situation after another. She is faced with the challenge of maturing in the midst of strife and violence.

Evaluation:
The characters in this book are creatively developed through snippets of prose and poetry. The plot is fully developed but only through glimpses of action and scenes. The major theme is struggling with the concept of home. The setting is the Latino neighborhoods of Chicago in the 1980's. The style of Cisnero's writing is fictional prose with narrative poetry. The book addresses the adolescent need to feel safe and stable. This book deals with physical, social, and emotional adolescent issues. This book addresses race, ethnicity, and language by being embedded in a cross-cultural society. This book addresses gender, age, religion, and social class through showing the mistreatments within each area.

Reaction:
The House on Mango Street was an amazing novel. I loved the simultaneous implementation of prose and poetry. Although in some places it seemed a bit disjointed, overall the transitions were seamlessly smooth. This novel is unique because it creatively addresses the horrors of life experiences through the positive view of a young girl. Even though the author’s voice can be plainly heard through the narrator in spots, this stark contrast heightens the quality of the novel and peaks the interest of the reader. It also gives evidence supporting the artistic ability of the author. The author also provides fascinating insight into a subculture of urban Latinos in the 1980’s and brings out truth and hardships that all readers can relate to on some level or another. I thoroughly enjoyed the challenging way the author provides pieces of a story and the reader has to creatively fill in the gaps. Though some of the difficulties that arise in the novel are hard to swallow, I found this book very entertaining.