Sandra Cisneros: The House on Mango Street - Groups

Overview: Groups

Writing Readers 514 books / 2878 members / 3132 posts If you're an aspiring or successful writer, this is the group for you. Suggest your favorite books on the craft, discuss past and present challenges, and share some nurture with a growing community of other online-savvy, "writing readers". Welcome!

Note: If you want to promote a book or writing website on which you publish, please use the "Shameless Self-Promotion" discussion thread. In order to keep this from becoming a chaotic open bazaar of single-shot marketing, we are deleting book notices, reviews, etc. from other threads and directing all authors to the "Shameless Self-Promotion" thread. Thank you for understanding.

World Lit 316 books / 343 members / 200 posts This group is to share and discuss your world literature favorites -- especially if they're off the beaten path. If you love books by non-Western writers, then this is the group for you!

Biracial-Multiracial-Transracial-Interracial: Culture & Diversity 160 books / 125 members / 311 posts Discuss and broaden your knowledge of yourself and of the people around you, wherever you are in the world. In this group we read and exchange our thoughts about what is important to us when it comes to matters of race and the societies we live in, and how these issues related to racial mixtures are represented in books, both fiction and non-fiction.

We are interested in our own racial identities, whether "coffee", "vanilla" or "chai tea", and what it means when our families are racially mixed--whether that means by birth we are multiracial or by family of choice. We read and discuss books that deal with questions such as-- which racial group do we identify with when we are from more than one? -- what do we call ourselves? -- does how we identify change when the social or geographical context changes? -- how does a child relate to his/her mother/father who doesn't look them? -- what happens to kids who are adopted by parents who don't look like them? -- how does it work to love/date/marry someone from a different ethnic and racial group?

This group has "given birth" to two other fantastic groups here on Shelfari:

SHADES OF LOVE For an amazing collection of multicultural and multiracial children's books, and some lively discussion about them, please visit the Shades of Love: Multicultural Children's Books & Literature Group, which is the "child" of this group, for books & reading resources for transracial kids and families, as well as for those who want some diversity and representation on their children's reading menu.

DIVERSITY WORKS For broader issues of diversity (race as well as gender, class, sexuality, etc.) please visit the page of our sibling group, Diversity Works.

CELEBRATING ADOPTION is our sibling group and has two wonderful shelves of books for children and for adults. We are doing a group read over there too so please check us out!

What are you reading? 2328 books / 5581 members / 12972 posts A place to talk about books you have read/reading of any genre, or any book talk in general.

YA Books that Adults Should Read 693 books / 1773 members / 3962 posts Some of the best literature is written for young adults and children. This group is for sharing titles that are often overlooked because they are marketed to younger people.

Latino/Latina Literature 102 books / 105 members / 71 posts A group for those who love Latino/a Literature/Poetry from authors born in both Latin America as well as American-born Latinos. Sample authors: Cristina Garcia, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Mario Vargas Llosa, Esmeralda Santiago, Pablo Neruda, Ernesto Quinonez, Piri Thomas, etc...

Shades of Love: Multicultural Children's Books & Literature 1127 books / 296 members / 728 posts Shades of Love is an offshoot of the Black, Biracial & Multiracial: Culture & Diversity Group. Our aim is to provide listings and encourage dialogue for families, educators, and all others who are interested in more representative and diverse literature and reference resources for children, from babies and toddlers to pre-teens and young adults.

Finding good books that are diverse and multicultural is a challenge. And YA? Good luck. That is why Shades of Love is here.

Please don't assume members are already aware of great titles including reference resources. If you have found a book you enjoy, or have found a text useful and relevant, share it with the group in discussion and on our shelves. If you've seen something and are unsure, let us know. Hopefully someone among us will purchase the text and report back or another may have access through a library and will report to the group.

“It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.”
~ Maya Angelou

Diversity Works 507 books / 775 members / 7770 posts "Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man's sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true."

~ Martin Luther King Jr

Diversity Works is a where we acknowledge our differences, celebrate our commonalities, and make an honest effort to navigate between the two. We hope the setting here feels safe enough for you to examine, consider, and challenge ideas and thoughts expressed here. It's not about being right, but being heard.

Tell us what you think.

50 Book Challenge! 2925 books / 2895 members / 16490 posts When asked about the new Amazon Kindle product, Steve Jobs CEO of Apple computer had this to say:

“It doesn’t matter how good or bad the product is, the fact is that people don’t read anymore,” he said. “Forty percent of the people in the U.S. read one book or less last year. The whole conception is flawed at the top because people don’t read anymore.”

Welcome to the the 50 Book Challenge, where we fly in the face of Steve Jobs.

Basically .... the challenge is to read 50 books in one year. OR ... establish a goal for yourself more or less, it's up to you, just because we say 50 books doesn't mean that has to be your goal too.

Start a thread, WITH YOUR NAME IN THE SUBJECT OF YOUR ORIGINAL POST, and log your books. It is a very good idea to bookmark (when in your post, add it to your internet browser's favorites) your post for easy location for future updates. Things move quickly around here.

If you haven't been keeping track of the books you've read, start when you join.

Thanks for being here and have fun. If you have any suggestions or questions, feel free to contact me.

The books we loved in 2007:

1. Harry Potter the final - 15 votes
2. The Kite Runner - 12 votes
3. A Thousand Splendid Suns - 11 votes
4. Twilight - 5 votes
4. The Thirteenth Tale - 5 votes

With 4 votes each:
Water For Elephants, The Road, The Red Tent, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Middlesex, Eat, Pray, Love

With 3 votes each:
Eclipse, My Sister's Keeper, Suite Francaise, Shadow of the Wind, The Lovely Bones, Jane Eyre, His Dark Materials (plus 3 honorable mentions), The Glass Castle, Girl With the Pearl Earring, Darkly Dreaming Dexter

With 2 votes each:
19 Minutes, Black Swan Green, Dogs of Babel, Heart-Shaped Box, In the Woods, Into the Wild, Kafka on the Shore, On Chesil Beach, The Book Thief, The Memory Keepers Daughter, The Stolen Child, No Country for Old Men, Marley and Me, New Moon

AP English Teachers 142 books / 216 members / 224 posts A place for AP English teachers to share all the great lit we read/teach on our serious days, and all the "trash" we read the rest of the year:-)

To join, please use the form to the right to send the admin a member request. Please include which AP English course you teach (or if you teach courses that "feed" into AP English). If approved, you will receive an invitation to the group.

Color Online 94 books / 29 members / 75 posts "To tell the truth is to become beautiful, to begin to love yourself, value yourself. And that's political, in its most profound way."

~June Jordan

For our summer session, we are reading Coldest Winter Ever by Sister Souljah.
Members are required to post twice a week to group discussion and to attend in-house sessions every week on Mondays at 1pm-3pm

We'll host weekly prizes for Comet Monday(marathon comment day) & Comment of the Week. Check forum for more details.

At Color Online Shelfari, we offer a book loan program, host writing contests, invite published authors to chat with members, run online writing workshops and other activities that promote the love of reading and encourage members to express their own creativity.

If you are interested in joining our community, please read and comply with our admission policy. We accept new members principally by referral. Please write us at cora_litgroup@yahoo.com. Please briefly share your interest in Color Online and who referred you. If an existing member did not refer you please share with us what Shelfari communities you are an active member of.

Our intention is not to make the process difficult but to maintain an environment where our members feel comfortable and safe. Failure to comply may result in delay or denial.

Membership is not limited by race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or spiritual beliefs. We are limited by age and gender. Membership is for young girls and young women between the ages of 14-21.

Membership benefits:

· Exclusive privileges to private Color Online book collection
· Participate in writing contests and win prizes
· Have work published on our blog
· Monthly workshops and activities
· Earn community service hours for graduation
· *Attend cultural events

* Applies to local members only

Who We Are

Color Online is community committed to the promotion, empowerment, and political awakening of young women. It is our mission to cultivate self-development through literary study, educational programs, cultural events and community service.

To Our Members

In all discussions, be respectful of individual opinions, beliefs and expressions. You are free to challenge, question, counter, evaluate and refute messages. However, there is zero tolerance for personal attacks. Address the message; do not attack the messenger. Members who post offensive, derogatory or mean-spirited comments will be warned, and the post will be deleted or a moderator will ask the poster to edit her comments. Upon a third infraction, a member risks having her membership revoked and permanently banned from the community.

Friendship for Universal Peace 1226 books / 2669 members / 14592 posts There are many languages - The Best language is the Language of the Heart.
There are many relationships in the World - The Best relationship is Friendship.
We welcome you to join this group and share your knowledge, learning, Worldly Wisdom, Love and Friendship for "Universal Peace."

Womyn who love womyn 12 books / 65 members / 35 posts This is a group for lesbians, trannys, queers, bi chicks, it doens't matter how you identify as long as you enjoy reading lesbian fiction.

Contemporary Ethnic-American Literature 16 books / 13 members / 13 posts Contemporary Ethnic-American Literature is wide open to the discussion of the many authors writing within the borders of the United States. Whether they have newly immigrated to America or are the sons, daughters or grandchildren of immigrants, many of these writers relate through fiction and memoirs the immigrant experience, the clash of cultures, new discoveries and generational conflicts. Sometimes they write to remember, to reconnect to their ethnic roots and at the same time adding unique identities to the American soil. While many great writers have written of this experience over the past centuries, this group is limited to those writers of today, such as Amy Tan, Stuart Dybek, Frank McCourt, Suzanne Strempek-Shea, Sherman Alexie, to name a few.

SWS 18 books / 41 members / 29 posts Students and staff in SWS love to read! This space is a private group for us to share what we're reading both in class and outside the classroom. Please send a note to me (the administrator) after you've joined Shelfari and are ready to join our group. Be sure to use your real name in your note so that I know who you are and will invite you to join!

Then, get going adding books to your own bookshelf, and putting them on the group shelf too. Adding a review lets us know what you thought of the book. You can do this in a discussion post too - and ask others for recommendations.

All school rules apply. Please don't use your real name, and do not post a photo of yourself. Of course, any inappropriate conduct and/or language won't be tolerated and may result in disciplinary action. Please write responses that follow the conventions of standard written English!

Happy reading!

Hunter High School- Required Reading, Inspired Discussion 9 books / 2 members / 1 posts This group is for students from Hunter High School in WVC Utah. The purpose of HHSRRID is to discuss books assigned by any of the English teachers, but recs are welcome!

Nimitz Brown Bag Readers 7 books / 17 members / 3 posts Staff and students and Nimitz High School in Irving, Texas who meet during their lunch periods in the library to discuss young adult literature.

Shelfari: The Site for Books & Readers

The House on Mango Street

by Sandra Cisneros

Overview: Groups