Diane and I had never heard of Sandra Cisneros or her Young Adult novel, The House on Mango Street (1984). Diane and her Book Club had read books by the three other Babel authors–Tommy Orange, Cheryl Strayed, and James McBride–so Diane decided we should just get tickets to the whole series.

I picked up a copy of The House on Mango Street from our local public library and we both read it. In addition to writing novels, Sandra Cisneros is a poet, essayist, and excellent oral reader. The poetic side of Cisneros shows up on just about every page of The House on Mango Street.

You will think you’re reading a James Patterson book because Cisneros uses the “short chapter” strategy that Patterson is famous for. The House on Mango Street is the story of Esperanza Cordero, growing up in Chicago. Esperanza narrates the experiences she navigates the difficult transformation of morphing from a child into becoming a teenager with all its problems, excitement, anxiety, fears, challenges, mistakes, and risks.

Esperanza lives in a community made up of mostly newly arrived immigrants from Mexico and first-generation Americans including black and white people from Texas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Europe, and Puerto Rico.

Esperanza, her parents and sisters, live in a small house. Here’s how Esperanza describes It:

It’s small and red with tight steps in front and windows so small you’d think they were holding their breath. Bricks are crumbling in places, and the front door is so swollen you have to push hard to get in. There is no front yard, only four little elms the city planted by the curb. (p. 9)

The House on Mango Street has sold 7 million copies. The presentation Diane and I attended showed Sandra Cisneros at her best. She read from The House on Mango Street, she read some of her poetry. And she read an essay on Peace. As I mentioned before, Cisneros is a great oral reader. The audience of 1200 literary types gave Cisneros plenty of applause after a lively Q&A session. I highly recommend The House on Mango Street. GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

• The house on Mango Street — 3
• Hairs — 6
• Boys & girls — 8
• My name — 10
• Cathy queen of cats — 12
• Our good day — 14
• Laughter — 17
• Gil’s furniture bought & sold — 19
• Meme Ortiz — 21
• Louie, his cousin & his other cousin — 23
• Marin — 26
• Those who don’t — 28
• There was an old woman she had so many children she didn’t know what to do — 29
• Alicia who sees mice — 31
• Darius & the clouds — 33
• And some more — 35
• The family of little feet — 39
• A rice sandwich — 43
• Chanclas — 46
• Hips — 49
• The first job — 53
• Papa who wakes up tired in the dark — 56
• Born bad — 58
• Elenita, cards, palm, water — 62
• Geraldo no last name — 65
• Edna’s Ruthie — 67
• The Earl of Tennessee — 70
• Sire. — 72
• Four skinny trees — 74
• No speak English — 76
• Rafaela who drinks coconut & papaya juice on Tuesdays — 79
• Sally — 81
• Minerva writes poems — 84
• Bums in the attic — 86
• Beautiful & cruel — 88
• A smart cookie — 90
• What Sally said — 92
• The monkey garden — 94
• Red clowns — 99
• Linoleum roses — 101
• The three sisters — 103
• Alicia & I talking on Edna’s steps — 106
• A house of my own — 108
• Mango says goodbye sometimes — 109

JUST BUFFALO LITERARY CENTER BABEL SERIES 2024-2025

October 10, 2024: Sandra Cisneros

November 13, 2024: Tommy Orange

March 20, 2025: Cheryl Strayed

April 30, 2025: James McBride