When I Was Puerto Rican: A Memoir (A Merloyd Lawrence Book)

By: Esmeralda Santiago

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Synopsis: Esmeralda Santiago's story begins in rural Puerto Rico, where her childhood was full of both tenderness and domestic strife, tropical sounds and sights as well as poverty. Growing up, she learned the proper way to eat a guava, the sound of tree frogs in the mango groves at night, the taste of the delectable sausage called morcilla, and the formula for ushering a dead baby's soul to heaven. As she enters school we see the clash, both hilarious and fierce, of Puerto Rican and Yankee culture. When her mother, Mami, a force of nature, takes off to New York with her seven, soon to be eleven children, Esmeralda, the oldest, must learn new rules, a new language, and eventually take on a new identity. In this first volume of her much-praised, bestselling trilogy, Santiago brilliantly recreates the idyllic landscape and tumultuous family life of her earliest years and her tremendous journey from the barrio to Brooklyn, from translating for her mother at the welfare office to high honors at Harvard.

Book Quality:: Publisher Quality
Book Size:: 288 Pages
ISBN-13:: 9780786736867
Related ISBNs:: 9780201581171
Publisher:: Da Capo Press
Date of Addition:: 06/19/21
Copyrighted By:: Esmeralda Santiago
Adult content:: No
Language:: English
Has Image Descriptions:: No
Categories:: Nonfiction, Biographies and Memoirs, Social Studies
Grade Levels:: Fifth grade, Sixth grade, Seventh grade, Eighth grade, Ninth grade
Submitted By:: Bookshare Staff
Usage Restrictions:: This is a copyrighted book.