The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros:  Of all of the novels that I taught in my 33 years of teaching - The House on Mango Street is the one that got moved around (in terms of when it was taught during the school  year).  At first, I would teach it at the beginning of the year - then the middle - and finally it ended up at the very end. One of the reasons that it ended up at the end of the year, was purely logistical.  In May, students would be taking their AP Tests (and students at my school had a lot of them) - so I needed a book with very short readings - and a lot of work (ie group works) that students could do on their own. 

 It also made sense to teach this book towards the end of the year given its subject matter.  My class was composed primarily of seniors and the vast majority of them would be going away to college.  The House on Mango Street is a book about leaving home, and it's a book about first rejecting where  you come from - so that you can come back home and claim it for your own.  It's also about finding your path - the thing that you do well - in Esperanza's case, it's writing.  In the case of my students it was 25-32 unique journeys that they would soon begin. 

The House on Mango Street Bookmark with Reading Schedule:   (Docx   PDF)  This bookmark is a little different than the ones I usually give my students.  The readings are so small, the book so short, and I really want them to try and find Esperanza's House (see the first lesson).  So on the first side are the readings and due dates, on the other side is a small chart where they can write in what they think the "House" is for each of the chapters.