《芒果街上的小屋》 一本優美純凈的小書，一本“詩小說”。由幾十個短篇組成，語言清澈如流水，點綴著零落的韻腳和新奇的譬喻，如一首首長歌短調，各自成韻，又彼此鉤連，匯聚出一個清晰世界，各樣雜沓人生。所有的講述都歸于一個敘述中心：居住在芝加哥拉美移民社區芒果街上的女孩埃斯佩朗莎。生就對弱的同情心和對美的感覺力，她用清澈的眼打量周圍的世界，用美麗稚嫩的語言講述成長、滄桑、生命的美好與不易和年輕的熱望與夢想，夢想有一所自己的房子，夢想在寫作中追尋自我，獲得自由和幫助別人的能力。

The House on Mango Street 1
　　We didn't always live on Mango Street. Before that we lived on Loomis on the third floor, and before that we lived on Keeler. Before Keeler it was Paulina, and before that I can't remember. But what I remember most is moving a lot. Each time it seemed there'd be one more of us. By the time we got to Mango Street we were six —— Mama, Papa, Carlos, Kiki, my sister Nenny and me.
　　The house on Mango Street is ours, and we don't have to pay rent to anybody, or share the yard with the people down stairs, or be careful not to make too much noise, and there isn't a landlord banging on the ceiling with a broom. But even so, it's not the house we'd thought we'd get.
　　We had to leave the flat on Loomis quick. The water pipes broke and the landlord wouldn't fix them because the house was too old. We had to leave fast. We were using the washroom next door and carrying water over in empty milk gallons. That's why Mama and Papa looked for a house, and that's why we moved into the house on Mango Street, far away, on the other side of town.
　　　　　　　　　　　　
　　芒果街上的小屋1
　　我們先前不住芒果街。先前我們住Loomis的三樓。再先前我們住Keeler.Keeler 再往前是Paulina，再前面，我就不記得了。我記得最清楚的是，搬了好多次家。似乎每搬一次，我們就多出一個人。搬到芒果街是，我們有了六個——媽媽、爸爸、卡洛斯、奇奇，妹妹蕾妮和我。
　　芒果街上的小屋是我們的，我們不用交房租給任何人，或者和樓下的人合用一個院子，或者小心翼翼別弄出太多的聲響，這里也沒有拿掃帚猛敲天花板的房東。可就算這樣，它也不是我們原來以為自己可以得到的那樣的房子。
　　我們得趕緊搬出Loomis的公寓。水管破了，房東不愿意修理，因為房子太老。我們得快快離開。我們借用著鄰居的衛生間，用空的牛奶壺把水裝過來。這就是為什么爸媽要找房子，這就是為什么我們搬進了芒果街上的小屋，遠遠的，從城市的那一邊。