Becoming Maria: Love and Chaos in the South Bronx

Gr 9 Up—Although Manzano is the author of such notable titles as The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano (Scholastic, 2012) and Miracle on 133rd Street (S. & S., 2015), she may be best known for her 44 years as Maria on Sesame Street. This latest work recounts her chaotic family life in the 1950s and 1960s South Bronx, before she joined the fledgling television show in 1971. The author herself narrates, and listeners will be delighted to hear her familiar voice but sobered to learn the details of a childhood ruled by an alcoholic, abusive father and loving, though codependent, mother. Manzano expresses perfectly the confusion of a young child viewing violence she can't understand and the real fear of a girl watching her mother secreting away kitchen knives before her husband explodes in a drunken fury. However, she also conveys the wonder and awakening occasioned by experiencing performances as diverse as the romantic musical drama West Side Story and the acts of Charlie Chaplin, as well as unaffected surprise when describing the events that led to her early life-changing successes, including admittance to the High School of the Performing Arts.