Becoming Maria Love and Chaos in the..., Sonia Manzano
Becoming Maria Love and Chaos in the..., Sonia Manzano
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Becoming Maria: Love and Chaos in the South Bronx

Author: Sonia Manzano

Narrator: Sonia Manzano

Unabridged: 10 hr 7 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/25/2015


Synopsis

Pura Belpre Honor winner for The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano and one of America's most influential Hispanics--'Maria' on Sesame Street--delivers a beautifully wrought coming-of-age memoir.Set in the 1950s in the Bronx, this is the story of a girl with a dream. Emmy Award-winning actress and writer Sonia Manzano plunges us into the daily lives of a Latino family that is loving--and troubled. This is Sonia's own story rendered with an unforgettable narrative power. When readers meet young Sonia, she is a child living amidst the squalor of a boisterous home that is filled with noisy relatives and nosy neighbors. Each day she is glued to the TV screen that blots out the painful realities of her existence and also illuminates the possibilities that lie ahead. But--click!--when the TV goes off, Sonia is taken back to real life--the cramped, colorful world of her neighborhood and an alcoholic father. But it is Sonia's dream of becoming an actress that keeps her afloat among the turbulence of her life and times. Spiced with culture, heartache, and humor, this memoir paints a lasting portrait of a girl's resilience as she grows up to become an inspiration to millions.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Aliza

I have been anticipating this book's arrival since I heard it would be written. Growing up with SESAME STREET on television every day, Sonia Manzano's character Maria felt like a grown up friend, someone I knew without having met her. She taught me Spanish. She reminded me of my Dominican best frien......more

Goodreads review by Kelly

This is a fascinating memoir but you should be aware that it stops as she's auditioning for Sesame Street. (I hope there will be a followup memoir!) This is also told in a series of vignettes beginning when she's a child and ending when she's about to start Sesame Street (as we know, but she doesn't)......more

Goodreads review by Susan

This is one of those books that made me feel my worldview stretching while I read it. Probably like every other Sesame Street fan, I picked this up thinking it would have something to do with Sesame Street. Instead, I was whisked away to a childhood as a Puerto Rican immigrant in a viciously poor fa......more