Exposition

Esperanza wants to leave her neighborhood and desires to grow up. She spends time with Sally, a more worldly girl. She gets a job and one of the old men there forces her to kiss him.

Esperanza's friendship with Sally leads to sexual assault at the carnival.

Esperanza returns her focus to Mango Street and accepts that she belongs there. She rekindles friendships with neighbors and her less mature friends.

Esperanza wants to be strong and have a place of her own. She wants to become a writer who is dependent
on only herself.