Becoming Maria

Description:

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.

subjects: Coming of age,  Family,  Television actors and actresses,  Juvenile literature,  Childhood and youth,  Television writers,  Actors and actresses,  Women, united states, biography,  Women, biography, juvenile literature,  JUVENILE NONFICTION / Family / General (see also headings under Social Issues),  Hispanic American women,  JUVENILE NONFICTION / Biography & Autobiography / General,  JUVENILE NONFICTION / People & Places / United States / Hispanic & Latino,  Biography

People: Sonia Manzano

Places: United States,  Bronx (New York, N.Y.)