I'm in the process of listening to the Spanish audiobook, read by the author. I picked out a few random spanish audiobooks at the library to practice my spanish, and so far this one is my favorite. Since I don't have a print edition, there are a very colloquial words she uses that I don't recognize, and I would like to find a list of those to see their spellings and definitions, but it hasn't really caused any problems in understanding the stories.

THIS IS PART ONE OF THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF PUERTO RICAN WRITER ESMERALDA SANTIAGO! IT IS ABSOLUTELY AWESOME WORK. SHE DESCRIBES THE PUERTO RICO OF YESTERDAY.....A HUGE CONSTRAST TO THE PUERTO RICO OF TODAY. HAVE READ IT THREE TIMES ALREADY.

This book was such a wonderful story. Santiago uses vivid language to lure you in as a reader. Anyone who is the oldest can relate to Negi's feelings about her siblings. Moreover, she struggles with her parents relationship. One does not have to be Puerto Rican or a girl, to understand how she feels! We need more stories like this for our young teens. ( )

Moving. Fast read. ( )

Growing up in Puerto Rico. Good, interesting slice-of-life. ( )