Becoming Maria: Love and Chaos in the South Bronx
Becoming Maria: Love and Chaos in the South Bronx
Select a format:
Perma-Bound Edition ©2017--
Publisher's Hardcover ©2015--
Paperback ©2017--
To purchase this item, you must first login or register for a new account.
Scholastic Book Service
Annotation: 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.
Genre: [Biographies]
 
Reviews: 4
Catalog Number: #143462
Format: Perma-Bound Edition
Common Core/STEAM: Common Core Common Core
Copyright Date: 2017
Edition Date: 2017 Release Date: 07/25/17
Pages: 262 pages
ISBN: Publisher: 0-545-62185-2 Perma-Bound: 0-605-98138-8
ISBN 13: Publisher: 978-0-545-62185-4 Perma-Bound: 978-0-605-98138-6
Dewey: 921
LCCN: 2015007490
Dimensions: 21 cm.
Language: English
Reviews:
ALA Booklist (Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 CDT 2015)

Though many adults may recognize Manzano as Maria from Sesame Street, she's likely more well known among today's teens as the author of the Pura Belpré winning The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano (2012). In her present-tense memoir, Manzano, who grew up in 1950s South Bronx, examines her community, her family, and her ever-changing self with a wide-eyed curiosity. She struggles to make sense of her mother's decisions, such as staying with an abusive husband and trading in a hardscrabble existence in Puerto Rico for an equally challenging life in the U.S. It's Manzano's gift for theater that provides her the opportunity of a lifetime, and thanks to her talent, she attends a performing-arts high school and then Carnegie Mellon. This beautifully rendered coming-of-age story calls to mind Betty Smith's classic A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Though it's a bit slow moving at times and would have benefited from a time line to help ground readers, this is nevertheless an inspiring portrait of resiliency and a time capsule for a New York that now feels like a distant memory.

Word Count: 70,811
Reading Level: 5.5
Interest Level: 7-12
Accelerated Reader: reading level: 5.5 / points: 11.0 / quiz: 175631 / grade: Upper Grades
Reading Counts!: reading level:6.3 / points:18.0 / quiz:Q66465
Lexile: 910L
Guided Reading Level: O

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.


*Prices subject to change without notice and listed in US dollars.
Perma-Bound bindings are unconditionally guaranteed (excludes textbook rebinding).
Paperbacks are not guaranteed.
Please Note: All Digital Material Sales Final.