The House on Mango Street

<p><i>The House on Mango Street</i> is one of the most cherished novels of the last fifty<br>years. Readers from all walks of life have fallen for the voice of Esperanza<br>Cordero, growing up in Chicago and inventing for herself who and what she will<br>become. “In English my name means hope,” she says. “In Spanish it means too<br>many letters. It means sadness, it means waiting."<br><br>Told in a series of vignettes—sometimes heart breaking, sometimes<br>joyous—Cisneros’s masterpiece is a classic story of childhood and<br>self-discovery. It is also one of the greatest neighbourhood novels of all time.<br>Like Sinclair Lewis’ <i>Main Street</i> or Toni Morrison’s <i>Sula</i>, it makes a world<br>through people and their voices, and it does so in language that is poetic and<br>direct. Acclaimed by critics, a staple in schools, translated into dozens of<br>languages, this gorgeous coming-of-age novel is a celebration of the power of<br>telling one’s story and of being proud of where you come from.</p>