The House on Mango Street Book Notes Summary

Rachel, Lucy, Esperanza, and Nenny sit around looking up at the clouds. Esperanza adds that the Eskimos have thirty different names for snow, while Rachel claims to have a cousin with three different names.

They bicker on the necessity and validity of both statements and proceed to name the clouds above. They initially call them all Cumulus and proceed to recite a long list of various American and Hispanic names. Rachel and Lucy insult Esperanza by calling her face ugly and puffy like the clouds. The two groups of sisters erupt in a battle of insults, culminating in Esperanza scolding Nenny never to speak to the stupid Lucy and Rachel again.