Eleven Trivia

Cisneros' works have been well received by critics and readers alike, but it hasn't been all sunshine and high praise. In 2012, Cisneros joined several Chicano-American authors whose works were removed from the curriculum of the Tuscan Unified School District, based on a decision to dissolve its Mexican-American studies program. Among Cisnero's frowned upon works were House on Mango Street and Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories. The reason provided for the ban was "a state law banning racially divisive courses from being taught in public schools." Because why teach about an issue when you can ignore it, right?

Several organizations and individuals protested the ban, and some people took to reading from the banned books to show their discontent, such as this reader who chose Cisneros' "Eleven" for her protest reading.

Although the list contained mostly Chicano-American authors and books on Latino-American history, it also contained William Shakespeare's The Tempest because…why stop when you're ahead? Eventually, the school district cut back the list to seven books, and even the ban on those seven was rescinded in 2013. 

The title for "Eleven" is rather self-explanatory, but what's up with the collection's title Woman Hollering Creek? This title comes from a creek in Texas named… well, Woman Hollering Creek. But that name comes from a wonderfully disturbing folktale called the Legend of La Llorona.

Here's the short and skimpy version of La Llorona: A girl named Maria, once the prettiest girl in her village, managed to marry a super-super handsome ranchero. Over time the handsome ranchero grew bored with her and his attention went to other women. One day Maria was walking near the river with her children, and she saw her husband get in a carriage with another woman.

Upon seeing this, Maria went a little crazy and drowned her children in the river in an attempt to exact revenge on her husband. The next morning, her body was found dead, washed up in the riverbed, but her spirit still haunts the creek, searching for her dead children.

Well, that's the short-and-simple version at least. Feel free to read more on the whole story here and here.

Sandra Cisneros has six brothers. Six! You guessed it—she is the only daughter. As she tells it, they teased her a lot growing up—typical brother stuff—but grew to be especially supportive of her in their adult lives. That's some sibling karma at work right there.

Her mother was also supportive of her work as a writer, but her father wasn't…at least at first. Apparently he supported her decision to go to college because he hoped she'd find a husband there to take care of her. When she didn't, he worried for her. Cisneros points out though that once she won the MacArthur Fellowship he "realized [she] was fine and stopped worrying." Nothing like being nationally recognized as one of the best in you field to make dad proud. (source)

In her essay "Straw into Gold," Cisneros admits that she thinks of herself as an eleven year old. As she puts it:

I know I'm thirty-two on the outside, but inside I'm eleven. I'm the girl in the picture with skinny arms and a crumpled skirt and crooked hair. I didn't like school because all they saw was the outside me. School was lots of rules and sitting with your hands folded and being very afraid all the time.

Now, we're not ones to read a writer's life into their work, but does that sound familiar or what? (source)