The House on Mango Street

By: Sandra Cisneros

Narrated by: Sandra Cisneros

Length: 2 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

Told in a series of vignettes stunning for their eloquence, The House on Mango Street is Sandra Cisneros's greatly admired novel of a young girl growing up in the Latino section of Chicago. Acclaimed by critics, beloved by children, their parents and grandparents, taught everywhere from inner-city grade schools to universities across the country, and translated all over the world, it has entered the canon of coming-of-age classics.

Sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes deeply joyous, The House on Mango Street tells the story of Esperanza Cordero, whose neighborhood is one of harsh realities and harsh beauty. Esperanza doesn't want to belong, not to her rundown neighborhood, and not to the low expectations the world has for her. Esperanza's story is that of a young girl coming into her power, and inventing for herself what she will become.

This audiobook is also available in Spanish.

©1984 Sandra Cisneros (P)2005 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Cisneros draws on her rich [Latino] heritage...and seduces with precise, spare prose, creat[ing] unforgettable characters we want to lift off the page. She is not only a gifted writer, but an absolutely essential one." (The New York Times Book Review)

Lyrical and Poetic

Would you consider the audio edition of The House on Mango Street to be better than the print version?

Cisneros (2009) a poet and great writer has portrayed the story of a Chicana (Mexican-American) with dreams beyond the young girls own understanding. The author provided lyrical vignettes to represent each character's role in the young girls life. Cisneros (2009) novel portrays a Chicana character that is living the life of almost every Latino I know, in terms of community and financial support and more importantly ideology. The awareness that her character is able to convey through language in this novel sets her apart from her community of neighbors, family, and friends, and givers her the opportunity to rise above, and escape. Through writing the character finds herself questioning her identity, her culture, and gender norms, specific not only to her culture, but to the society as a whole, like her relatives and peers. This character then transforms into an adolescent with poetic fashion. Great read, and even better performance on audible by the author herself.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The House on Mango Street?

(spoiler) The Cisneros (2009) novel the character does share about sexual abuse and in this regard, has little memory around the incident in a chapter called “Red Clowns,” in which she shares her anger toward “Sally” for misguiding her ideas of what sex would be like.

Have you listened to any of Sandra Cisneros’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes once live, but only a reading at a book signing. She was wonderful in person, and this is why i originally bought the book to read. I was thrilled to see it on audible.

If you could take any character from The House on Mango Street out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Good question, Sally's character is intriguing, and I'd like to know more about her.

Any additional comments?

This is one you should listen to with your young adolescent, as it is thought provoking and the reader or listener may have a few questions. I think the author does a great job, however of describing life from a different perspective, one of oppression that is deep rooted, and difficult to escape.

MaryRose's joy!

Loved it and enjoyed reading with Hispanic friend. I listened with Audible which brought the culture right at home to me. I will recommend to others with Audible too!

mexican chick review

What made the experience of listening to The House on Mango Street the most enjoyable?

I enjoyed hearing about the no pretty side of growing up...I personally was raised in the middle class....so could not really relate to some of the problems. I enjoyed hearing the stories and believe more stories like these need to be told. We hear a lot about the problems African Americans face so it is nice to hear so of the problems faced being raised Mexican american.

Had to read this book for class.

This book was hard to understand for me. Everything was just everywhere I enjoyed some parts of the book. Some parts where easy to understand then others. Most likely reading this book again trying to understand it all.

awesome book

different view point. very interesting. I can relate to Little Esperanza in so many ways

Nostalgia at its best

Love the story! It feels very nostalgic! Like you are transported back to your childhood and loving through the eyes of a young girl.

it was so sad

love it the nartor and it it so sad and it happy and it so

Read it to the end

I struggled to finish the book because I didn't understand the book's concept. I had to read all the little stories to understand the breadth of Mango Street. Don't give up! Read it to the end. It's worth it!

memories

I think when an author reads their own work it comes to life with their voice. I remember as a little girl all of the jump rope rhymes. I had forgotten them until this story brought back those memories.

Sevrets

This is a story about secrets, the kind of secrets people don’t talk about. The problem with the story is that the author doesn’t tell us much about the main character only affect of being violated on her character. In the end, main character says “I have to come back for those I left behind”.