View Spread
A Reader's Guide to Sandra Cisneros's The House on Mango Street
Sandra Cisneros has overcome many hardships, including poverty and racism, to become a unique voice of Mexican-American literature. Her first novel, The House on Mango Street, was written so that everyone who picked it up would be able to read it. The popular work was one of the first novels that reworked American literature to include diverse cultural expression to include diverse literature across the United States.
* Reviews *
Educators need multicultural literature guides, but should use caution choosing this uneven series geared toward high school and college students. In Persepolis, the author argues that Satrapi uses the graphic novel to illuminate Iranian culture. Panels from Persepolis are well matched to the writing, and the narrative moves smoothly from broad aspects of Iranian culture to specific incidents in Satrapi's life. Along with a detailed plot description, Schroeder provides thoughtful analysis and centers the story with dates and political events to help readers understand the work in its time. However, Schroeder does not properly distinguish between graphic novels and comics, or differentiate between a format and a genre. It may be subjective to call comics the lowbrow sibling of graphic novels. Better editing might have directed content away from this discussion of graphic novel elements that seems to meander in confused circles.
RL
Grades
9-10 IL
Grades
9-12+ GRL
Z
