The House on Mango Street |
Chapter Summaries
Timeline of Events
Many years ago
Great-Grandmother Esperanza is confined to the house after marrying and loses her wild spirit.
Chapter 4
Decades later
Mama drops out of school because she is ashamed she doesn't have nice clothes like the other girls.
Chapter 36
Years later
The Cordero family lives in an apartment on Paulina Street.
Chapter 1
A year later
The Cordero family moves to an apartment on Keeler Street.
Chapter 1
A year later
The Cordero family moves to a dilapidated apartment on Loomis Street.
Chapter 1
A year later
The Cordero family buys the little red house on Mango Street.
Chapter 1
Shortly after
Cathy offers to be Esperanza's friend.
Chapter 5
Days later
Esperanza befriends Lucy and Rachel despite Cathy's immediate dislike of them.
Chapter 6
Soon after
Meme Ortiz's family moves into Cathy's old house.
Chapter 9
Unspecified date
Mrs. Little Feet gives Esperanza, Lucy, and Rachel a bag of her old high heels.
Chapter 17
Some time later
Esperanza forgets to be ashamed of her babyish saddle shoes and dances at her cousin's baptism.
Chapter 19
Unspecified date
On her first day at her new job, an old Asian man kisses Esperanza on the lips.
Chapter 21
Unspecified date
Esperanza gets a tarot card reading from Elenita, who tells her to find home in her heart.
Chapter 24
Unspecified date
Geraldo is killed in a hit-and-run car accident.
Chapter 25
Unspecified date
Esperanza becomes friends with beautiful and popular Sally.
Chapter 37
A few weeks later
Esperanza and Sally get into a fight in the monkey garden.
Chapter 38
Soon after
Esperanza is raped at the carnival.
Chapter 39
Later
Sally marries a marshmallow salesman.
Chapter 40
Weeks later
Lucy and Rachel's baby sister dies.
Chapter 41
A day or so later
Esperanza meets three old women at the wake; they read her palm and tell her to make a wish.
Chapter 41
Chapter Summaries Chart
Chapter
Summary
Introduction: A House of My Own
The 2009 edition of The House on Mango Street, which is the 25th anniversary edition, includes an introduction from the ...
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Chapters 1–4
Esperanza Cordero and her family recently moved to a house on Mango Street. Before that, the family of six—Mama, Papa,...
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Chapters 5–8
One of Esperanza's new neighbors is Cathy, who says she is a distant relative of the queen of France and whose house i...
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Chapters 9–12
Meme Ortiz's family moves into Cathy's old house. There's a huge tree in the backyard "with fat arms and mighty famili...
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Chapters 13–16
Rosa Vargas is a single mom with a lot of poorly behaved children. The kids are always getting into dangerous situatio...
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Chapters 17–20
A woman with small feet gives Esperanza, Lucy, and Rachel a bag containing three pairs of her old high heels. One pair...
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Chapters 21–24
Esperanza's Aunt Lala works at Peter Pan Photo Finishers. She gets Esperanza a job there matching film negatives to th...
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Chapters 25–28
Marin went to a dance and met a boy named Geraldo. She doesn't know his last name, but the police want to interview he...
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Chapters 29–32
Esperanza feels a kinship between herself and the four trees the city planted in front of her house. "They are the onl...
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Chapters 33–36
Minerva is just a few years older than Esperanza, but she is already married with two kids. Her husband keeps leaving ...
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Chapters 37–40
Sally's father abuses her. She assures Esperanza he "never hits [her] hard"—he's just afraid she's going to turn out l...
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Chapters 41–44
Lucy and Rachel's baby sister dies. Esperanza goes to the wake, where she meets three old women—sisters—who "smelled l...
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