La casa en Mango Street / The House on Mango Street

First published in 1984, The House on Mango Streeet, a bold and unforgettable coming-of-age story by a little-known young writer named Sandra Cisneros, was instantly recognized as a seminal work in the blossoming field of Chicana literature. Cisneros's novel about a young girl named Esperanza Cordero and her rejection of the low expectations the world has for her while simultaneously negotiating two disparate cultures--Mexican and American--rang true for millions of readers and writers. Indeed, Cisneros's fresh style and subject matter inspired and instructed a new generation of writers, Chicano and non-Chicano alike.