The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

The House on Mango Street is very interesting book by Mexican-American author Sandra Cisneros. The book was published in 1984. This is a book that every person who experienced living in rough live or neighborhood can relate and can familiarize themselves with. Cisneros also provided and incorporated some aspect of Latino American culture in her story and the physical, emotional and mental growth of Esperanza who grows up in rough neighborhood in Latino community in Chicago, Illinois. The House on Mango Street is about young Latino girl named Esperanza which means hope in her Spanish. Esperanza tells her story of growing up in the Chicago Chicano rough neighborhood which most people would refer to it as “ghetto”. She is from large family where everyone sleeps in one bedroom house. She is determined young lady and wants better life then her neighborhood could provide for her. She wants to live and say bye to her poverty lifestyle and establish better life for herself. The story of Esperanza and neighborhood might sound very sad and one can get vivid imagery of impoverished neighborhood and people but I thought that this book had a lot more than that. It had sense of community, belonging and coming back to one’s community and serving even after life gets better for the person that left their community to perspire.  

            In Conclusion, the story of Esperanza was very intriguing and profoundly sad and happy story or vignettes. The character of Esperanza was full of hope and that what her name meant in Spanish. She was very smart girl who wanted better life then she saw on her neighborhood and how girls acted impractical in education and other social lives but Esperanza was different girl.

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

The final book selection that I choose is called American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang. This graphic novel has three stories and they all have interesting aspects to it because they touch different social issues. Some aspects of the stories deal with racism, stereotypical jokes about Chinese cultures and finding self identity.  American Born Chinese has three stories in one novel. The first story is about the legendary tale of The King Monkey which is folk tale story in China. This tale represented   honesty and being true to one’s self and others. The second tale is about the second generation immigrant boy from China, his name is Jin Wang. This tale deals with different aspect of human lives such as making friends, being new to a place and wanting to fit in the society that you live and also being in love for the first time. The last story is about white boy named Danny, who has a Chinese cousin named Chin-Kee who visits annually. Danny’s cousin fits into the ignorant stereotypical of Chinese people, the way she dresses, her accent and everything else about her depicts racial remarks and I thought that the author wanted to address such commentary.  In ending, American Born Chinese was deeply three interesting stories in one graphic novel told three pictures and words. I would recommend this book to all readers and do not let the graphic part of the book throw you off because it has great contents to it. The stories have common themes and they all come together towards the end of the book.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Alex Sherman

 The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is about a teenager named Junior who lives in Spokane Indian Reservation. The protagonist of the story is a serious cartoonist and that is how escapes from the harshness of society. He draws about everything that happens to him in school, friends, families and bullies. Junior is also conflicted between two societies, first he was going to all Indian school and then all white school. He was lost between cultures and neither of society made it easy for him because he was being teased in both places. But it was worst for him at his Reservation because no one can have different lifestyle or break away from home which leads to teasing and bullying of poor Junior. He is very smart kid who wants to experiment and see outside world. He wants different life then the Reservation can offer him and tries to break away from that life that was predestined for him. In definite, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Alex Sherman is absolutely one of the funniest and best books with contents and concepts. I would recommend it for everyone to read because you will be laughing and crying until the end of the book. It will also motivate one and challenge others who are confined in their cultures to experience and experiment life outside of one’s norms. The book is about taking matters into one’s hands and to predestining your own future.