《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。

What sally said
　　Sally was going to get permission to stay with us a little and one Thursday she came finally with a sack full of clothes and a paper bag of sweetbread her mama sent. And would 've stayed too except when the dark came her father, whose eyes were little from crying, knocked on the door and said please come back, this is the last time. And she said Daddy and went home.

　　Then we didn't need to worry. Until one day Sally's father catches her talking to a boy and the next day she doesn't come to school. And the next. Until the way Sally tells it, he just went crazy, he just forget he was her father between the buckle and the belt.
　　　　　　　　　　　　
　　薩莉說了什么
　　薩莉得到了允許講和我們住一陣子，星期四她終于來了，帶著一布袋衣服和一紙袋她媽媽拿的甜面包。本來他可以住住下來的，可天黑的時候她爸爸來了，眼睛哭腫了，變得很小，他敲打著門說請回來吧。這是最后一次。她應了一聲爸爸，就回家了。

　　然后我們就不用擔心了。直到有一天，薩莉的爸爸抓到她和一個男孩說話，第二天她沒有來上學。第三天也沒有。直到后來薩莉說起來，他簡直就是瘋了，解開了皮帶的他，忘記了他是她的父親。