Rating: 
Summary: The House on Mango Street
Review: The House on Mango Street is a wonderful book filled with collections of vignettes describing Esperanza's experiences as she slowly matures and gets a clue of what the world is like as she grows up in the ghettos of Chicago. Esperanza's house on Mango Street was a typical house for the type of place she lived at, but it wasn't quite the place that Esperanza dreamed of living in. Esperanza's house consisted of red bricks on the outside, hallway stairs, and barely running water. Esperanza's dream house was spacious, had huge hallways, and pipes that worked and an attic for bums off the street to stay in.
This book personifies almost everything from "four skinny trees" to doors on a house. It's not your average book, it doesn't follow the basic frame of most books and things don't necessarily
"click" together like most books. It contains a variety of vignettes, that will in most cases, take you by surprise.
As we read through the book, we grow with Esperanza as she experiences life and the good and bad things that go along with it. She starts to feel and see many things that take her by surprise. Throughout the book her friendships with Lucy, Rachael, Sally, and even her little sister Nenny grow and mature. Also throughout the book she is on a path to self discovery. I feel that Esperanza is jut like every other girl with a dream to get married, have a big house, be accepted, and not have to worry about what anyone thinks. You will end up being very moved by the book.
Rating: 
Summary: Classic House
Review: Well, I think it's now safe to say that Sandra Cisneros's "The House on Mango Street" is a classic. Not just a "Chicano/a Classic," but a book that rightfully is included in school curricula throughout the United States. This heartbreaking coming of age novella is presented in short but powerful chapters. Esperanza Cordero (note: "esparanza" means "hope"; "cordero" means "lamb") is about a young girl in a poor Latino neighborhood who tells us her story in vignettes. One of the most moving chapters is "Red Clowns" where Esparanza tells her friend Sally about being raped at the carnival: "Sally Sally a hundred times. Why didn't you hear me when I called? Why didn't you tell them to leave me alone? The one who grabbed me by the arm, he wouldn't let me go. He said I love you, Spanish girl, I love you, and pressed his sour mouth to mine." This short chapter displays the beauty and potency of Cisneros's prose: she uses simple language, that of a young girl, and juxtaposes the child-like world of the carnival with the adult ugliness of rape. This a moving, well-crafted book that should be on your list of "must reads."
Rating:
Summary: It takes maturity to understand
Review: The main problem with this great book is that it can't be read by just anyone. Like McCrae's BARK OF THE DOGWOOD, it has some difficult themes and ideas that, unless you've lived a very full life, you might not warm to very quickly. That said, it is worth every bit of effort you must put into it. The form is unusual also (again, like McCrae's "Dogwood") and unless you're well versed in the literary arts, you might miss something. And it's not a simple journey that this brilliant author takes you through, for it is a journey of the mind as well as the spirit and physical being. Some of the book is not easy to take, but then, this is life we're talking about, and not a dress rehearsal. Of all the books out there to read, this one is highly underrated. It looks so simple on the surface, but what lurks beneath is complex and wonderfully done. Take the time, put in the effort, and pay attention--you might learn something.
Rating: 
Summary: Are you people crazy?!
Review: This is probably one of the worst books I have ever read. It is told from the point of view of a child, and this, while different, becomes incredibly slow. Example (not actually from the book, but you'll get the point): Me and mama went shopping for shoes. I like shoes there are big shoes and little shoes. One time I saw a man with very big shoes. They were as big as mamas dress. I said why do you have big shoes? And he said that that's the way God made him. mama says god makes everyone different. Mama said god made me to be a strong woman. mama says grandma was a strong woman too... If you are still reading, the you've made it throughn about half a page of over a hundred written just like this. I was forced to read this in high school because it illustrates "poetic elements" what good it does have in illustrating this, it makes up for with horrible grammar, like the lack af punctuation (see example). people are also mentioning how she uses her heritage to write. just because she sold away her heritage in a paperback book, it doesn't make the book any better. Conclusion: Sandra Cisneros was dropped when she was a child.
Rating:
Summary: A book that leaves a musical ring
Review: THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET by Sandra Cisneors is a short book composed of 44 short, short vignettes. Told from the point of view of Esperanza Cordero, a young Mexican girl living in Chicago, the vignettes criticize poverty, child abuse, social and racial discrimination, sexism and so much more. Beginning with the line- "We didn't always live on Mango Street," THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET illustrates the story of Esperanza's search for freedom, for "only a house quiet as snow, a place for myself to go, clean as paper before the poem." Reading Sandra Cisneros' lines, you'll immediately fall in love with them. I must admit the vignettes have little relavance to one another, and the book doesn't seem to have a distinctive plot besides Esperanza's longing for a true house (different from the house they own on Mango Street), which doesn't seem to develop much throughout the book. But the language that literally flows through the book is so beautiful, so lyrical, so poetic. "as powerful as morning glories" "eyes like Egypt" "I am a red balloon"... A beautiful excerpt from my favorite vignette, "Sally" - (I don't think I'm giving anything away, as the book lacks plot development anyway): Sally, do you sometimes wish you didn't have to go home? Do you wish your feet would one day keep walking and take you far away from Mango Street, far away and maybe your feet would stop in front of a house, a nice one with flowers and big windows and steps for you to climb up two by two upstairs to where a room is waiting for you. And if you opened the little window latch and gave it a shove, the windows would swing open, all the sky would come in. There'd be no nosy neighbors watching, no motorcycles and cars, no sheets and towels and laundry. Only trees and more trees and plenty of blue sky. And you could laugh, Sally. You coudl go to sleep and wake up and never have to think who likes and doesn't like you. You could close your eyes and you wouldn't have to worry what people said because you never belonged here anyway and nobody could make you sad and nobody would think you're strange because you like to dream and dream. And no one could yell at you if they saw you out in the dark leaning against a car, leaning against somebody without someone thinking you are bad, without somebody saying it is wrong, without the whole world waiting for you to make a mistake when all you wanted, all you wanted, Sally, was to love and to love and to love and to love, and no one could call that crazy.
Rating:
Summary: House on Mango street is an insult, not a story...
Review: Having been yet another teen, forced to read House on Mango street for English class, i find myself appalled to find adults who love this book, praising it as a wonder look into the latino community. Give me a break!
For example at how rediculus this text is, Here is an excert from one of the many times Esperanza, the main girl who never truely grows up in this story, is raped or abused in some fashion... "Sally, you lied. It wasn't what you said at all. What he did. WHere he touched me. I didn't want it, Sally. The way they said it, the way its supposed to be, all the storybooks and movies, why did you lie to me? ...
"Sally Sally a hundred times. why didn't you hear me when i called? Why didn't you tell them to sleave me alone? The one who grabbed me by the arm, he wouldn't let me go. He said I love you, Spanish girl, I love you, and pressed his sour mouth to mine.
"Sally, make him stop. I couldn't make them go away. I couldn't do anything but cry. I don't remember. It was dark. I don't remember. I don't remember. Please don't make me tell it again.
...
"Then the colors began to whirl. Sky tipped. Their high black gym shoes ran. Sally, you lied, you lied. He wouldn't let me go. He said I love you, I love you, Spanish girl." Oh god, had enough yet? This is not good literature. This is crap, that isn't even based on non-fictional events. Its just one little pointless story after another about helpless latin women, un-able to fend for themselves without men. One story is of a spanish women who lets her husband lock her away all day and night so that she doesn't run away, yet she sends change to the local kids out the window to buy her papaya juice (but only on tuesdays), and another story is of a latin women who is a single mother with two daughters (both of which she mentions will turn out like her, i guess cause thier spanish), who can't tell her husband to go away but rather writes poetry.
I am un-impressed by Sandra, and infact insulted. As terribly difficult as her upper middle class up-bringings may have been, I find this as a slap in the face to me, and any one who happens to not be the richest of people and yet spanish.
This book is not a book. Its a piece of crap that Cisneros broke into a bunch of vignettes, not for the purpose of being slightly creative, but because she was too lost in this rediculous story to find any way of turning it into a novel. Sandra Cisnerros is a joke. For a real spanish author and a real spanish book, i highly reccomend "100 years of solitude" by nobel prize winner Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Rating:
Summary: John Sullivan's Book Review.
Review: I read this book for my highschool freshman English Class. I found the book to be rather short, yet creatively written in about 44 short vignettes. The book revolves around a girl called Esperanza, who, with her family, have moved into a small, run down home on Mango Street. Esperanza does not wish to live in this house, for she wants to live in a big white house, like the ones on television. At first, my friends and I thought this story was short, and lacked in plot and quality. But then I realized that the sheer simplicity is the true beauty of the story. At first, Esperanza is seen as a naïve child, who never truly realizes how horrible the world around her is. I think the part were the family goes for a ride in her uncle's (I think it was her uncle,) new car, and end up being ditched on the sidewalk after the police come chasing them, and you realize the car was stolen was one of the parts that showed this the most. One part I liked though, was when we learned of the other occupants of Mango Street through the eyes of Esperanza. This part instantly reminded me of Alfred Hitchcock's "Rear Window," because it showed everyone through the eyes of the main character, not what they really were. It talked about the man who always was seen with different women, and the women who never could leave the house, and sat at the window till her husband came home. This book really was painfully realistic. I have to say, it truly did open my eyes a little, because it really did show life like it really is in a poverty-ridden neighborhood. After reading other reviews, I noticed that many people criticized Cisnero's sub-par grammar usage, which made the book really look like it was written by a child Esperanza's age. I thought that was a great idea, and only made the story more compelling, and showed Esperanza's innocence and naivete. But there were some glimmering moments of hope, that showed nothing but Esperanza's and her friends childish innocence, like when the pooled money together, and bought the bike they could all ride on. Another part was when she said that when she got her big house, she would open up the attic, and let all the bums stay up there. I thought this book was about the hope of someday having a better life, not the dreary, miserable life forever locked in poverty. Unfortunately, I really could connect with this book. I honestly used to live in poverty. As I lived in our small apartment, I remember always wanting to live in a big house, with everything I've ever wanted. While I wouldn't say my wish came true, My family now lives far from poverty, and we are happy, yet we have yet to live in a big house, with everything we ever wanted. This firsthand expierience allowed me to see the hope that this book was trying to convey, and to me at least, did. In other ways, I could not connect to this book, for I have never been a little girl, having to deal with girl things. This book is a broad canvas, on which Sandra Cisnero's has lavishly painted many bright colorful strokes. Many of my classmates say the book was bad, because of its occasional difficulty to comprehend, but they have yet to see the deeper meaning in the book, but I assure you all, it is there.
Rating:
Summary: This is aweson
Review: This book is pretty good even though it talks a little weird about the latin culture. but any ways is not that bad because is about a girl and she talks about her life. i recommended to read it just if you like sad books.
Rating:
Summary: The House On Mango Street
Review: I enjoyed reading The House On Mango Street. Not only was the language Sandra Ciscernos chose to use easy to follow, but the main character, Esperanza, was someone that I grew to respect over the course of the novel. Esperanza, who is just starting to go through puberty, is learning to express herself to others both mentally, and emotionally. It seems as though the house on Mango Street is something that she is ashamed of. She feels that her home displays her to the rest of the world, and that living in the ghettos does not reflect upon her or her family well. This was shown best when Esperanza used the term "those who don't know any better". I felt as though with this term, Esperanza was trying to defend her surroundings, rather than admit that she was really ashamed of them. It also shows that Esperanza has been introduced to racism, early on.
Race was a major roll in this novel. Esperanza is an ambitious Hispanic girl. Unlike others in her town, Esperanza wants to make something of herself. She has dreams and she wants to grow mentally. She wants to show her independence, and the quote "Mama said god made me to be a strong woman," shows that she has the support of her mother to do what she wants with her life, support that other characters in this novel, such as Sally, do not receive. Although, like the other girls in the novel, such as Sally and Alicia, it seems as though Esperanza is having a difficult time doing this achieving her independence.
Sex played another major roll in this novel. Throughout the book, Esperanza is changing due to puberty, and it shows how her being poor and living in the ghetto effects that. Throughout the novel there are multiple sexual assaults, and Esperanza is even taken full advantage of at one point. The quote Esperanza tells Sally about the rape, I couldn't do anything but cry. I don't remember. It was dark. I don't remember. I don't remember. Please don't make me tell it again shows just how deeply Esperanza is effected by this. Going back to being ashamed of where she lives, it seems as though Esperanza will never feel fully secure unless she is not ashamed of her surroundings.
Although throughout the novel Esperanza struggles to not be associated with the house on Mango Street, I believe that she knows that this house is important to her. This house molded who she was, know matter how ashamed of it she is. For Esperanza there is no escaping life in the house on Mango Street- and even if she could, would she really want to?
Finally, I noticed that this novel's short chapters and descriptive language gave the book a poetic feel. Throughout the novel it seems as though Esperanza is budding into a poet, and the book shows that fantastically. If you enjoy this poetic style, I also would recommend any of Ray Bradbury's books.
Rating:
Summary: House on Sh**** street
Review: OK people any good reviews you have heard are just flat out lies. This is the worst book ever wriiten beside maybe " Last exit to Brooklyn." no that was even better. This is the crappiest book ever it ruins latino writing and people's outlook on it. Anybody who likes this trash is crazy. This book is just a waste of paper and publishing money and everything that goes into a book. The book is so stupid and I think Sandra Cisnero's is not an up and coming book writer I think she is a horrible writer. I haven't even gotten to the end and i want to stop reading it. THIS IS CRAP.
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