I grew up in the Chicago suburbs and knew nothing of this Chicano life in the city. But the Mexican radio that was available then transported my middle school self to another land, far enough away from my boring home so i could feel exotic. My love for Spanish language and culture started with listening to these musica del campo stations, and still continues today. ( )

Deceptively simple, don't rush through the book. The short stories express the dreams, hopes and regret of Esperanza, the narrator, and other Hispanics living on Mango Street. Many of them don't want to live there. For girls, the easiest way is to get married young and move away. Esperanza wants to move away too but her links to the street are too strong to be severed easily. ( )

a great book! ( )

An interesting coming of age story told in vignettes. ( )

I have wanted to read this for 40 years. It was published while I was in college and was very buzzed about—I remember seeing it everywhere but it never popped up in my syllabus (and syllabus is a word I haven’t thought of in 40 years—in fact, just saying it out loud vexes me). Natural to build up some expectation in that time—and natural to experience a modest let down—however I was delighted the whole time. The hubbub when it came out was that it opened a door to Hispanic culture. A culture rarely referenced in American Literature, and certainly not from a female perspective. This book helped the pulse of Hispanic life beat on the page for the first time. Not really a novel and not really a collection of short stories, Cisneros uses brief snapshots or impressions to vividly put together a story. Each part is a well-crafted little darling. Adolescent Esperanza narrates her life in working class Chicago with just the right details about her small adventures to create a vivid and embracing tapestry. Small revelations relate to big truths—the neighborhood is the world. Designed so you can drop in anywhere and read randomly but there is a feeling by the end that Esperanza has matured and we see many of the forces that have shaped her. ( )