The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

"They don't walk like ordinary dogs, but leap and somersault like an apostrophe and comma."
"They grow up and they grow down and grab the earth between their hairy toes and bite the sky with violent teeth and never quit their anger."

It's lines like those that make this a pleasure to read. Sandra Cisneros draws you in right from the introduction. You want to see things with her eyes. And that is exactly what happens in the pages of The House On Mango Street. It's like someone is talking and you can see what they are talking about but then you blink and the story and scenery change, then you blink again and another story and scenery change, blink-change, blink-change....And each time you are drawn in. Sometimes it is funny, sometimes it is lovely and sometimes it is really sad. But always it is something you want to look at carefully, taking in each and every detail and you want to listen so closely you can taste the words, you want to do this before it changes again because while you can't wait to see what's next you don't want to leave the current story.


I found this book on a table of beach reads. The blurb on the back of the book felt like a challenge, "Acclaimed by critics, beloved by readers of all ages..." so of course I had to grab it. What a good thing I did.

(Finished July 31, 2014)