Dear House on Mango Street,
Thank you for the opportunity to enter into a new world and hear about someone else’s life.
With Love,
Hannah
P.S. Book Details
Author: Sandra Cisneros
Book Length: 110 pages
Book Genre: Fiction//Short Stories
Publication Date: April 3, 2009
Awards: American Book Award (1985), George C. Stone Center for Children’s Books Recognition of Merit Award (1994)
Synopsis: Told in a series of vignettes – sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes deeply joyous–it is the story of a young Latina girl growing up in Chicago, inventing for herself who and what she will become. Few other books in our time have touched so many readers.
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I found this book because I was searching for an In the Heights fix (the Broadway musical). So, I looked up books like In the Heights, since the movie got postponed a year. There was an article that said if you like In the Heights you may like The House on Mango Street. Immediately I went to the library and reserved it.
Ok… the truth is… I do not like short stories. It is something I have been on the verge of realizing, but this book made me realize the truth of the matter. I enjoy the time to get invested with a character and walk through a story with them in a novel. While the stories are amazing and interesting, I was not a fan of the format. I wanted more of the story to get invested in, rather than stopping right as I got invested.
As short stories go, this is one of my favorites. It is similar to the style of Sabrina & Corina, but I felt Cisneros wrote with more continuity between the stories. The House on Mango Street is one girl’s story, told in the format of a bunch of short stories, whereas Sabrina & Corina was a collection of independent stories. The House on Mango Street also reminded me a little of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (but MUCH shorter). To me, as the reader, it had a similar feel.
While it didn’t take much time to read, there was a lot of depth in the short stories. Cisneros writes with an empathetic expertise, and she communicates this expertise with beautiful style. When reading you will go into small neighborhoods with the eyes of a young girl, and you leave with greater insight to another’s mind. The stories were fast paced, so it feels like an easy pick up put down book. If you are looking for a book to fit in the spare in-between moments, this would be great.
Goodreads | Author Page | What Books to Read Based on Your Favorite Broadway Shows
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