Teacher Guide

House on Mango Street Lesson Plan

Introduction to House on Mango Street

The House on Mango Street, published in 1984, is a coming of age novel about a young Latina girl growing up in Chicago. Esperanza, the protagonist, moves to a predominantly Latino neighborhood. She feels out of place immediately and grows to understand herself and her neighborhood better over time.

This book put Sandra Cisneros, the author, on the map as a masterful writer and one of the most prominent women of color in the publishing world. The novel received critical acclaim and has enjoyed wide readership in the decades since its publication. It is intentionally written in simple language, but the themes are broad and allow for deep analysis. While Cisneros says she did not intend...

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