The story of Esperanza, a 12 year old Mexican-American girl, is told in the book The House On Mango Street written by Sandra Cisneros. The story spans a year of Esperanza’s life when she moves into her new house on Mango Street. Esperanza is the main narrator and she tells her stories and the stories of those she meets through a series of vignettes.
Esperanza lives with six of her family: mother, father, Kiki, Carlos, and younger sister Nenny. Although the new house is far better than anywhere the family had lived previously, it is not Esperanza’s dream house. The book is a coming of age story and explores Esperanza’s life as she matured both physically and mentally throughout a myriad things such as puberty, crushes, sexual assault, new friends, and writing.
The novel also includes the stories of those Esperanza meets when she moves to Mango Street. Although Esperanza has never fully felt as though she is a part of the community on Mango Street, she realizes that even when she eventually leaves the house she will always return to the people that are stuck there.
Esperanza lives with six of her family: mother, father, Kiki, Carlos, and younger sister Nenny. Although the new house is far better than anywhere the family had lived previously, it is not Esperanza’s dream house. The book is a coming of age story and explores Esperanza’s life as she matured both physically and mentally throughout a myriad things such as puberty, crushes, sexual assault, new friends, and writing.
The novel also includes the stories of those Esperanza meets when she moves to Mango Street. Although Esperanza has never fully felt as though she is a part of the community on Mango Street, she realizes that even when she eventually leaves the house she will always return to the people that are stuck there.