The House on Mango Street

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Summary: A book that forces you to think...
Review: Sandra Cisneros is an excellent writer and her style of writing is somthing like nothing before. She captures emotions and adventures that Esperanza escapes from and must deal with everyday in her life that many of us never knew or wanted to think about. She leaves it up to the reader to determine what happened and she never says "The old oriental man kissed me and it was bad" she tells us the details that only someone who was there could remember. To understand the book you MUST read between the lines and think about what she is saying even if she isn't saying it. Please e-mail me your thoughts on the chapter "Red clowns"... I would like to know what other people think of what happened. rachel

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Summary: To reach and reach--a book about growth
Review: I have heard my peers comment that this book is suitable for a junior high level course and is void of any meaning whatsoever. However, in order to fully appreciate this work, you must look deeper into it and seek out things that are not so obvious. If read properly, the reader will see the stories contained in this book as the observations and experiences that are in a little girl's heart. The things that make the main character, Esperanza, a woman, are things that most of us look at once and forget about, assigning them little importance. Cisneros presents these overlooked items to us again and tells us to see how it is the simple things that make us who we are. A shallow person might overlook them, but these are the same things that make us who we are--the people who live down the street from us, the trees growing in the front yard. Give this book a chance and open your heart to it, and it will enrich you more than you ever could have expected.

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Summary: A relection of the uncertainties of youth...
Review: Each story is simply told, yet sharp in its ability to describe a young girl's emotions. Although somewhat disconnected throughout the novel, the individual chapters are satisfactorily brought together at the conclusion when the theme of hope (in Spanish, esperanza) ties the vignettes together and foreshadows Eperanza's future.

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Summary: The book is about what goes on during the life of a poor kid
Review: It is a good book in terms of letting you know what it's like being a poor minority. However this is not a book for those who seek action.

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Summary: A young hispanic girl in search of self-understanding.
Review: Esperanza shares with the reader about her Hispanic culture through colorful, descriptive vignettes. Her honest portrayal of the characters on Mango Street provide a sensitive insight into the feelings and emotions of a young girl who faces the challenges of adaptation in a new culture. Esperanza's thoughts and observations are recorded through her Spanish voice and are expressed in an authentic non-native English. Although Esperanza's narrative speaks of life on Mango Street, her writing provides an avenue for expressing her dreams and ambitions to reach beyond her place without letting go of the heritage that defines her. We recommend this book as an inspiration to any young adult seeking identity in an unfamiliar place.

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Summary: This book is a great way to understand children
Review: In this book the whole story is told through the eyes of a ten-twelve year old. she speaks everything the way she sees it. I am a young girl, and that's the way I see things. It gives you a veiw of how your child sees, and gives you a warm rememberence of once being a child too.

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Summary: Listen to Sandra Cisneros!
Review: Listening to Sandra Cisneros read her novel is a wonderful way to experience her world. Even if you've read The House on Mango Street - you need to listen to Ms. Cisneros read it to you!!!

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Summary: She speaks to all women through a unique voice
Review: Esperanza is a tremendously intuitive young girl, and Cisneros does a great job of giving her the voice she so desperately deserves. A must read for all women and anyone who ever had to struggle for anything, however small. The power of this book is in its details and its overall "coming of age" theme. In short, it deserves to be read.

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Summary: Hope
Review: Esperanza, her name means hope - indeed she has a lot of hope. This book is a prime example of the hardship many people have gone through, but especially those people who have broken the cycle of poverty, and became something in life. Esperanza lives in a poor neighbrohood and experiences many things, from theft, to prostitution... This is a great book you will remember for a life time. Ashkan Yekrangi

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Summary: A wonderful coming-of-age story
Review: I had the great fortune to teach this book to a Women's Literature class last year. It was amazing how many of my students told me that _Mango Street_ was now their favorite book, one that they would recommend to their friends as a "must read." While an earlier reviewer claimed that the stories don't hold together in a coherent narrative, my students and I were able to trace many motifs (Esparanza's resistance to growing up, her fear of being controlled like the other women in her neighborhood, her desire to be a writer, etc.).