CARAMELO (2002)

Cisneros is such an imaginative storyteller that even her occasional ramble is charming. Here, the author of the best-selling House on Mango Street weaves tales from her own childhood with fabulous fiction, whipping up the story of Lala and her eccentric Mexican and Mexican-American family. Guided by Lala's narration of her grandparents' and parents' histories, Caramelo engages in a kind of playfulness (''Tell me a story, even if it's a lie'' is the quote that opens the book) that is utterly bewitching.