Location: Haverford Township Library
The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros, is a 1984 coming-of-age/bildungsroman novel by Mexican-American author Sandra Cisneros. It is written from the perspective of teenage Latina, Esperanza Cordero, who struggles with her life in a Chicano and Puerto Rican neighborhood of Chicago. Esperanza wishes to escape her impoverished life in her small red house on Mango Street to then return one day to rescue her loved ones as well. The novel combines old Mexican traditions with modern American customs and explores the plight of marginalized Latinos struggling to survive in a dominantly white country. It is presented in a series of vignettes and is Sandra Cisneros’ first published novel. The book has earned many awards and accolades, and is considered to be a modern classic of Chicana literature. It is a New York Times Bestseller and has been adapted into a stage play by Tanya Saracho.