The House On Mango Street

The House on Mango Street is understood better when you understand where the author, Sandra Cisneros, grew up. Cisneros was raised as a Hispanic-American in the rundown suburbs of Chicago. She was surrounded by poverty and racism. She incorporated all she experienced and learned into her book through the unique, innocent voice of a young girl named Esperanza.

The House on Mango Street is the story of Esperanza, Esperanza's growing up, making friends, overcoming her surroundings, and overcoming what people expected of her. She doesn't fit in with her family and has had to move so many times that she never had the chance to make friends.

Cisneros writes this novel in a series of short anecdotes that give the reader a glance into Esperanaza's life without handing the information to them but lets the reader interpret the stories and draw the deeper meaning themselves. Cisneros gives the reader a taste of what life is really like for Hispanic-Americans, for young girls living in poverty, and for young girls growing up no matter what ethnicity.