By

Sandra Cisneros

Description of the book: The House on Mango Street is a deceptive work. It is a book of short stories that add us, as Sandra Cisneros has write, "to tell one big story, each story contributing to the whole – like beads in a necklace."

Narrator: The stories are told through the voice of a young girl, Esperanza Cordero.

Themes: This book is an artful exploration of the themes of individual identity and communal loyalty, estrangement and loss, escape and return, the lure of romance, and the dead end of sexual inequality and oppression.

Culture: This book is about the culture of Chicanos, or Mexican-Americans.

In her own words: "You, the reader, are Esperanza . . . You cannot forget who you are."