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Music and Mind

The House on Mango Street

The House on Mango Street is one of the most cherished novels of the last fifty years. Readers from all walks of life have fallen for the voice of Esperanza Cordero, growing up in Chicago and inventing for herself who and what she will become. “In English my name means hope,” she says. “In Spanish it means too many letters. It means sadness, it means waiting.”

Told in a series of vignettes—sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes joyous—Cisneros’s masterpiece is a classic story of childhood and self-discovery and one of the greatest neighborhood novels of all time. Like Sinclair Lewis’s Main Street or Toni Morrison’s Sula, it makes a world through people and their voices, and it does so in language that is poetic and direct. This gorgeous coming-of-age novel is a celebration of the power of telling one’s story and of being proud of where you’re from.

More Non-Juvenile Books

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  • New York Times bestselling author John Scalzi flies you to the moon with his most fantastic tale to date: When the Moon Hits Your Eye The moon has turned into cheese. Now humanity has to deal with it. For some it’s an opportunity. For others it’s a moment to question their faith: In God, in science, in everything. Still others try to keep the world running in the face of absurdity and uncertainty. And then there are the billions looking to the sky and wondering how a thing that was always just there is now… something absolutely impossible. Astronauts and billionaires, [...]
  • In When We Flew Away, critically acclaimed author Alice Hoffman tells the poignant story of Anne Frank during the harrowing times of World War II. As the Nazi occupation forces Anne and her family into hiding, she discovers her own identity and voice amidst the chaos, ultimately becoming a symbol of resilience and hope.
  • Wild Girls: How the Outdoors Shaped the Women Who Challenged A Nation explores how girls who found self-understanding in nature grew into women who transformed America. Through the stories of iconic figures like Harriet Tubman and Louisa May Alcott, the book highlights the profound impact of the outdoors on women's independence and resilience, advocating for equal access to natural spaces for all young women today.