Sandra Cisneros had a hard childhood. Her parents were from Mexico, and they would move between Mexico City and Chicago frequently, never settling in one place for very long. This and the fact that she had six brothers led to her loneliness from not having any sisters or friends. Loneliness and poverty drove her to reading books. She saw stories as a way of escape from reality. Cisneros began to write poetry in high school, but it wasn't until her first creative writing class in college that she started to take writing seriously. Because of her background, her writing is different from traditional American writers. She believes that she has something to say that most American writers don't know about, especially on subjects of feminism, love, oppression, and religion.