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Velshi Banned Book Club: 'The House on Mango Street' by Sandra Cisneros - Velshi - MSNBC
“The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros has been studied in classrooms, recommended to daughters by their mothers and then to their friends, read in book clubs, topped national best-seller lists, and awarded literary prizes. A series of short vignettes that make up a year in a young life, the novel explores identity, family dynamics, the power of language, and the necessity of community as Esperanza experiences joy, sorrow, growth and false starts.
"Every human being is a walking book", says Cisneros. The work is part autobiographical and part inspired by her students at Chicago’s Latino Youth Alternative High School and decades later, it is easy to see why this book has remained so important and so influential, but less easy to understand why it’s faced bans. "Books are medicine,” says Cisneros, “and if it's not your prescription, that doesn't mean you burn down the whole pharmacy." - Aired on 08/09/2025.