Bibliograph

Type

Label

Becoming Maria, love and chaos in the South Bronx, Sonia Manzano

Language

eng

resource.biographical

autobiography

Illustrations

illustrations

Index

no index present

Intended audience

Young Adult

resource.interestAgeLevel

12-19, Brodart

resource.interestGradeLevel

7-12, Brodart

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

Becoming Maria

Oclc number

900623934

Responsibility statement

Sonia Manzano

resource.studyProgramName

Accelerated Reader, UG, 5.5, 11, 175631.Reading Counts, High School, 6.3, 18, 66465.

Sub title

love and chaos in the South Bronx

Summary

"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"--, Provided by publisher

Table Of Contents

Part 1. Fragments -- Kid Diaper meets mystery girl -- Family beatings -- Poverty sing-along -- Invisible girl -- A Christmas fact of life -- Hunger camp -- Family mood swings -- Queen for a day -- Banishment, threats, and a suicide -- Buried treasure -- Breasts -- Knives in the oven -- Part 2. La lucha -- Landing on Planet X -- Estupida -- West Side story -- Fight! Fight! Fight! -- Southern Boulevard -- Vanessa Delmonte -- Back to square one -- Worlds collide -- Agitation -- Down with Puerto Rico -- My dramatic life -- Part 3. The beginning -- Performing arts -- Winner or loser? -- What skin am I in? -- The love and marriage bomb -- Oozing opportunist -- Free at last -- Stages of fear -- Black power -- Godspell -- Unhappy ending -- The beginning

Target audience

juvenile

Classification

Creator