When I Was Puerto Rican

The narrative of Esmeralda Santiago starts in rural Puerto Rico, where she was raised in poverty and among home conflict, love, and tropical sights and sounds. She grew up learning the ins and outs of eating guavas, the sound of nighttime tree frogs in the mango orchards, the flavor of the delicious sausage known as morcilla, and the formula for guiding the soul of a deceased infant to paradise. As she walks into school, we see the humorous and intense conflict between Yankee and Puerto Rican culture. Esmeralda, the eldest kid, has to learn new rules, a new language, and finally a new identity when her mother, Mami, a force of nature, leaves for New York with her seven, soon to be eleven, children. Santiago masterfully captures the bucolic surroundings and turbulent family life of her early years in this first volume of her highly acclaimed, best-selling trilogy. She also chronicles her amazing journey from the barrio to Brooklyn, from translating for her mother at the welfare office to graduating with high honors from Harvard.