Two Thumbs Up
The book that I recently read and recommend, The House on Mango Street, is written by Sandra Cisneros. This book contains 44 short stories called vignettes. These vignettes are narrated by a little girl by the name of Esperanza Cordero, who just moved with her family to Mango Street (in the barrio). She hates this house on Mango Street because it is not a "real" house, like the one she sees on TV. Esperanza is forced to realize that she does not belong to the race or class of people who live in such houses. Sandra Cisneros, recipient of two NEA Fellowships for writing and a Dobie-Paisano Fellowship, through Esperanza tells about the ghosts (of poverty, sexism and racism) inside that haunt her. This book takes an honest look at these issues as faced by Mexican-American women. It also talks about the importance of education among women in order to succeed in life and have an equal say in a society dominated by men. House on Mango Street is full of characters that lack power - socially, politically, economically and sexually. This book is not a story of despair, but of hope, which is what Esperanza means in English. In order to see and understand the affects of being the only daughter out of seven kids in a Mexican-American culture and having your family move around a great deal and not be able to keep your friends, one must read this book. Not only is the language of this book simple, but the short stories are so short that they allow a person to read this book in many sittings. This makes the book much more easier to read, understand and enjoy among young readers. One of the main human concerns that is developed by Sandra Cisneros is the sense of belonging somewhere. Esperanza never feels like she belongs anywhere. This is due to the fact that her family is always moving from one place to another. She never gets a chance to interact with the friends that she makes as they move on to another place. In order for the Corderos to achieve their dreams, they must struggle against both poverty and racism. Another reason why she does not have a feeling for belonging somewhere is the fact that the house on Mango Street is in such a bad condition that she is afraid to admit that she lives there. She is afraid to call it her own house because this is not the kind of house that she hoped to live in. She compares her house with the ones that she sees on TV. This attitude of embarrassment tends to pull her back from progressing in life, especially when she was embarrassed by a nun. It was the nun, not someone from the barrio, who teaches Esperanza to be ashamed of her house. This makes Esperanza vow that someday she will have a beautiful house and offer help and shelter in her attic to passing bums because she knows how it is to be without a house. A real house that would give her privacy, space of her own where she could forge her identity, a place that she could be proud of and it would be a physical evidence that she belonged somewhere. This book is highly recommended by me for young readers because it teaches young readers about poverty and its disadvantages. From this lesson they will realize the importance and value of education and equality for all. Another thing that they will learn from this book is how the protagonist discovers that power and peace come from recognizing one's place in and one's duty to the community. The award-winning author makes it a great book to read also.

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