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What Members Thought

Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance
Do I really need to tell you about this book? Do you really need to know anything more than that this book is about a lovely young Hispanic girl, Esperanza Cordero, who is growing up in a little neighborhood in Chicago? Maybe I might add that it’s a book of little stories about her growing-up years and her neighbors and her family? And maybe you will want to know that the writing is beautiful and thoughtful and painful and jubilant?

Anything else? Maybe you should know that this is one of those b
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Fee
Feb 21, 2019 rated it it was amazing
In this feminist coming of age story our protagonist, Esperanza, leads us through the physical and emotional developments of puberty and all its accompanying discontent while she tries to carve out her place in the world. Her voice is wonderfully forthright; the exhaustive musings of a teenager before she learns the need to censor herself.

The story is told in a series of short vignettes, and for such a tiny little novel it manages to pack an awful lot in to its few pages. Cisneros's beautiful w
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Lindsey Z
Mar 21, 2018 rated it really liked it
These poetic vignettes give insight into what it's like to live in a lower class Chicago neighborhood as a Latino from a young girl's perspective. Cisneros's writing is sparse and insightful. I appreciated that, even though she writes from a young girl's perspective, her writing doesn't feel didactic or forceful or trite like some YA or middle grade writing can. Esperanza, the protagonist of the story, lives her life caught between two worlds: her reality in which she lives in a dilapidated hous ...more
Rachel
Jun 02, 2012 rated it it was ok  ·  review of another edition
Although I thought it was quite well written, I didn't particularly connect with any of the stories. Perhaps it was because I listened to the audiobook which was narrated by the author and I found the forced child voice she used annoying. ...more
Kimberly
May 29, 2011 marked it as to-read
Bookchick
Mar 07, 2025 rated it really liked it
Nancy H
Sep 06, 2011 rated it it was amazing
Jennifer
Feb 09, 2012 marked it as to-read
Shelves: latino
MichelleCH
Dec 30, 2012 rated it liked it
Shelves: own
Stacy
May 07, 2013 marked it as to-read
Shelves: books-i-own
Katie
Jul 25, 2013 marked it as to-read
Janet
Jun 06, 2015 rated it really liked it
Tracy
Nov 01, 2015 marked it as to-read
Amanda
Apr 21, 2016 marked it as to-read
Shelves: 50-before-40
Nikoleta
Oct 30, 2016 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
Lauren
Jul 06, 2017 marked it as to-read
Keeley
Oct 17, 2017 marked it as to-read
Shelves: literary-hub
Erica Renée
Jan 14, 2019 marked it as to-read
Suzanne
Jun 18, 2020 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
Lex
Jul 27, 2019 marked it as to-read
Jonathan
Dec 13, 2019 rated it really liked it
Amber
Jan 31, 2020 marked it as to-read
Curlysue
Dec 15, 2024 rated it really liked it
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Terry
Feb 25, 2020 rated it it was amazing
Johanne
Mar 01, 2020 marked it as to-read
Preeti
Jun 08, 2020 rated it really liked it
Traci
Sep 11, 2020 marked it as have-to-read
Toni
Mar 31, 2021 rated it really liked it