The House on Mango Street

The House on Mango Street brings the experience of adolescence to life through the unique voice of Esperanza, a girl growing up in the Latin quarter of Chicago. Esperanza’s story contains many of the most common elements one would expect in a story of growing up: family strife, discovering the opposite sex, and school woes, but her Mexican background makes her tale stand out, as most YA novels have white, suburban protagonists. The House on Mango Street also differs from typical YA literature because the author, Cisernos, uses a series of vignettes told from Esperanza’s perspective to bring her world to life.
The novel touches on a number of themes which all adolescents will understand and identify with as they read. Esperanza, like many teens, looks for ways to assert her independence from her family. She does this by doing things like getting a part time job and staying at school to eat lunch even while the rest of her family goes home. She also wishes to rename herself to escape the legacy of her grandmother, who was also called Esperanza. The idea of community and cultural identity are also explored througout the House on Mango Street, and teens, who need "strong, caring communt(ies)" (Search Institute 1) in order to thrive, will appreciate the neighborhood where Esperanza lives and what it means to her. The book also looks at sexual maturation, though in subtle ways such as Esperanza and her friends talking about what they will do when they "get hips." Adolescent girls will especially identify with the main character as she talks about her concerns and hopes for herself and her appearance as she matures.
The House on Mango Street gives readers a lot to think about while bringing a world to life, and it deserves its place as a YA standard.