The House on Mango Street in Around the World in 80 Books

Jan 11, 2014 Gaijinmama rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction, latino, books-i-ve-used-in-class

Some of my students have chosen this book for their final reports, but I am a bit ashamed it took me this long to get to it. What a lovely, funny, heartbreaking story.
On the one hand, there are many culturally-specific moments, and more than a few Spanish words in the text. This makes the book a wonderful introduction to Latino culture for those who aren't familiar (like my students here in Japan).
On the other hand, the story is universal. A young girl is growing up, has the usual sort of confli ...more

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Jun 23, 2010 Sunflower rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: library, fiction-read-2010

I felt that I should have liked this book more than I did. It is very short, and each chapter (vignette) is about one aspect of Esperanza's life in the Spanish quarter of Chicago. It clearly was a tough place to grow up, but this girl knew she was going to get herself out, to a house of her own "Nobody to shake a stick at. Nobody's garbage to pick up after. Only a house quiet as snow, a space for myself to go, clean as paper before the poem".
But just as the mysterious three sisters tell her, sh ...more

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Dec 22, 2016 Jean-Marie rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, classic, poetry, fiction, mentor-text, verse, short-stories

This book of short poetic vignettes is an excellent mentor text for your writers. I really enjoyed this one.

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Sep 07, 2021 Tanya rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2021, format-audiobook

Beautifully written and wonderful to hear on audio. Wish it hadn’t taken me this long to pick up, but I finally did due to this being National Hispanic Heritage Month and suggested by the librarian.

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