Her Nuyorican culture is a through-line here, but Manzano neither overromanticizes nor overworks the language or the details…You are drawn in by her language, her honesty, the way she moves the story along…Having already written a wonderful fiction debut…Manzano brings a novelist's attention to detail and a gift for writing powerful scenes to Becoming Maria…Manzano is such a familiar figure in our pop culture that it would be almost easy to miss that she is an ink-slinging storyteller with serious smarts and unquestionable literary gifts. Her words are bright on the page. Becoming Maria is a powerful book that will appeal to teenagers and grown-ups alike (it would be a great choice for mother-daughter book clubs).

01/25/2016
Actress Manzano, known for her role as Maria on Sesame Street, chronicles her formative years in a troubled household in 1950s and ’60s New York City with a voice that conveys a slow-burning audacity and the internal glimmer of lightness of a true dreamer. She narrates her life, rough spots and all, with unflinching honesty in words and tone. She growls when recalling anger, lightens up with laughter when narrating happier times. She gives distinct voices to different people in her life. Her parents’ speak with thick Puerto Rican accents and she performs with a breathy Marilyn Monroe voice for a glamorous friend, while her aunts sound blustery and brassy. The audio edition of her memoir will grab listeners from the get-go Ages 12–up. A Scholastic Press hardcover. (Oct.)

Praise for Becoming Maria

"[A] poignantly written memoir about growing up in the South Bronx" — School Library Journal, starred review

"In stark and heartbreaking contrast to her Sesame Street character, Manzano paints a poignant, startlingly honest picture of her youth.” — Kirkus, starred review

"[A] voice that conveys a slow-burning audacity and the internal glimmer of lightness of a true dreamer.” — Publishers Weekly

Praise for The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano

"This wry, moving debut novel does a great job of blending the personal and the political. . . while the family drama and revelations continue right up to the end." —Booklist, starred review

"Characters of surprising dimension round out the plot and add to the novel’s cultural authenticity. . . A stunning debut." —Kirkus, starred review

02/01/2016
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. VERDICT Teens may have trouble following the story, which unfolds in episodic memories that sometimes lack clear transitions. However, many will be moved and even inspired by the account of Manzano rising above her challenging childhood. ["This memoir will strike a chord with teens and adults alike": SLJ 9/15 starred review of the Scholastic book.]—Rebecca James, Hathaway Brown School, Shaker Heights, OH

Sonia Manzano was known to millions of people as Maria on “Sesame Street” for more than 40 years. So hearing her narrate this powerful memoir of her turbulent young life can give listeners cognitive dissonance: Why is Maria’s familiar, comforting voice talking about sex and violence? Her tumultuous childhood informed how she portrayed Maria; she made her real so other Puerto Rican little girls could see someone who looked like them on television. Manzano narrates her book with unflinching honesty. She sputters when recalling anger and lightens her tone and laughs aloud when reading about happy times. There’s honesty in her voice as well as her words as she forthrightly recounts her life, rough spots and all. G.D. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine