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When I Was Puerto Rican
When I Was Puerto Rican: A Memoir | Esmeralda Santiago
25 posts | 38 read | 44 to read
Esmeralda Santiago's story begins in rural Puerto Rico, where her childhood was full of both tenderness and domestic strife, tropical sounds and sights as well as poverty. Growing up, she learned the proper way to eat a guava, the sound of tree frogs in the mango groves at night, the taste of the delectable sausage called morcilla, and the formula for ushering a dead baby's soul to heaven. As she enters school we see the clash, both hilarious and fierce, of Puerto Rican and Yankee culture. When her mother, Mami, a force of nature, takes off to New York with her seven, soon to be eleven children, Esmeralda, the oldest, must learn new rules, a new language, and eventually take on a new identity. In this first volume of her much-praised, bestselling trilogy, Santiago brilliantly recreates the idyllic landscape and tumultuous family life of her earliest years and her tremendous journey from the barrio to Brooklyn, from translating for her mother at the welfare office to high honors at Harvard.
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alisonrose
Pickpick

Overall I enjoyed this—learning about her childhood in impoverished circumstances in Puerto Rico, w/a big family, a lot of both good & tough times, watching her grow into adolescence. Reads more like a novel, which I generally like, but also meant there was a LOT of dialogue & it‘s pretty hard to believe she‘d have such clear memories of every sentence everyone said for years. Also some problematic stuff that wasn‘t addressed in present. 3/5 ⭐️

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alisonrose
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alisonrose

“What do they call a man who never marries?” I asked as we settled ourselves in the front of the público.

“Lucky,” the driver said, and the rest of the passengers laughed, which made me mad, because it felt as if he were insulting me in the worst possible way.

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alisonrose
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I‘ve read a novel from the author, Conquistadora, and loved it. Very interested to read her memoir, and it comes highly recommended by The Novel Sanctuary, one of my fave Booktubers! #nowreading

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Butterfinger
Pickpick

A new favorite author. This is her memoir on her Puerto Rican childhood. I know children are resilient, but it amazes me what they do to survive. Esmeralda's mother was at times abusive, but she tried her best to give the children their best shot in life. I loved the end. Esmeralda showed she had a bit of her mom's backbone to the principal who wanted to hold her back a year to learn English.

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bobbipolk
Pickpick

So important to get an understanding of other‘s way of life. Great description of a very hard life in Puerto Rico but how the author appreciated her rural life over the city living in Puerto Rico. Inspirational as the author was able to overcome many hardships to get the eduction that she wanted.

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ShannonOffDuty
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Pickpick

This was definitely a wonderful book. Santiago has a way with words and a unique life experience. Definitely a must for the woc perspective.

5 likes1 stack add
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mrsmarch
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Don‘t worry @WanderingBookaneer my helper won‘t let me forget Los Naranjos either. Here she is testing the box for structural soundness aka banging on it because FUN. Outgoing on Monday. #LitsyAmaPR

31 likes1 comment
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MEGR
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Pickpick

Even better the second time 👊🏽

10 likes1 stack add
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WanderingBookaneer
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A modern-day classic. Santiago‘s first memoir is all about her childhood in Santurce and the cultural clash that occurred during her transition to life in the continental US. #FallBookExchange #HalloweenGoesPostal

emilyhaldi Have you read this one before? Seems likely, but I couldn't pass up on it bc @Reviewsbylola have it such high praise! I got myself a copy too ☺️ 6y
WanderingBookaneer @emilyhaldi I‘ve had to read it a couple of times for college, but I might pick it up again. Thanks! 6y
Reviewsbylola I loved all her memoirs so much. I was actually assigned this one in a college course. 6y
87 likes2 stack adds3 comments
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MEGR
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Decisions, decisions.

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Melmar
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I know this isn't book related, but I have family that still lives in #puertorico and many #littens are also from the island, so please if you have a few minutes call/email/write to your representatives and ask them to #fundprnow

DivineDiana Will do! Very sad and concerned for #puertorico .Signing so many petitions! 🇵🇷 #FUNDPRNOW (edited) 7y
Cinfhen Thanks for posting & sharing 💗 7y
moranadatter Thanks for posting this! I talked to my rep‘s staff this morning and was feeling pretty discouraged by the exchange. 7y
TheBookDream Texting "resist" to 50409 activates resistbot and lets you fax your reps. 6y
Melmar @TheBookDream thanks, I'll give it a try 6y
25 likes5 comments
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kgriffith
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Anyone interested in helping me make less of a fool of myself when attempting to speak Spanish and not look like a total asshole mainlander in PR? Duolingo has "clubs" now, and while I have no idea how they work, you should join mine so we can find out. Brand new learners encouraged! Code 8TXWM4

Chelsey Not sure how it works but I have 16 years of Spanish learning under my belt and am willing to help as I can and root you on! 7y
kgriffith Thanks @Chelsey 😀 I thought it would be interactive, but turns out it's just a list of finished lessons. Boooooo! 7y
11 likes2 comments
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BookishFeminist
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If you didn't get the chance to vote for @LitsyFeministBookClub's March read, our survey is out! 🔗https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/6TYMWVV

We'll be reading women's memoirs, and these are the finalists. All great choices. Vote by 3/11 and we'll announce our next read by 3/12. 😀

PS: for those frustrated with discussing the book on litsy, I just set up a Goodreads page for us too. It's under our new handle Books That Shook Us. Link below 👇🏼

booksandsympathy The turquoise ledge sounds awesome, but I live in Arizona, so it might be a bit more meaningful to me. I'm not in the group, but thanks for posting these. They've all been added to my tbr list. 7y
BookishFeminist @booksandsympathy You can join in any time! We don't have any monthly participation requirements 😀 we just like sharing awesome books about intersectionality and feminism 7y
91 likes5 stack adds3 comments
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Matilda
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It's Friday and @bkshelvesofdoom and @Kelly have 2 more classrooms to help fund: "Classroom one wants to help those kids learn to read through listening (yay aural literacy!) while classroom two wants to help kids have supplies for creative writing."

Let's do this! You can help by donating or signal boosting! http://bookriot.com/2017/02/17/action-item-future-readers-writers-tx-nj/

Gina ♡this! 7y
51 likes1 comment
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Matilda
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Littens!! @bookriot is doing this awesome thing that Rioters @Kelly and @bkshelvesofdoom started of helping to fund classrooms that need books! You can donate or signal boost so we can get these classrooms in need their books! 💙📚 http://bookriot.com/2017/02/10/action-item-bilingual-books-in-ny-and-wa/

readordierachel That's awesome! 7y
56 likes1 stack add1 comment
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jmtrivera
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My father gave me When I Was Puerto Rican when I was a kid, but I never read it & never saw the point of it. As an adult, I not only loved it, but devoured Santiago's other 2 memoirs (Almost a Woman & The Turkish Lover) as well. I was blessed enough to meet Santiago at the National Book Festival a few years ago, & could not find the words to explain how meaningful her story was to me. Love her books! #meaningfulmemoirs #Booktober @RealLifeReading

RealLifeReading Love that you got to meet her! 7y
jmtrivera @RealLifeReading It was such a great day! And she was so gracious as she signed my book. :-) 7y
Mc_cart_ny Great books!!! 7y
meagankc21 This one's on my bookshelf :) 7y
28 likes5 stack adds4 comments
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BookishMarginalia
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On a peer observation visit to a colleague's classroom. We both teach #AmLit

Notafraidofwords I love Santiago 🙌🏼 8y
readinginthedark This one sounds so good! Oh, and I definitely recommend The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks! 8y
Reviewsbylola So many good books. I was introduced to Esmeralda Santiago when I had to read that book for a college course. I quickly devoured all her memoirs. Love them! 8y
See All 6 Comments
EnidBiteEm Tan is a favourite 😀 8y
rustoryhuf Henrietta is waiting at the public library for me to pick up! 8y
108 likes6 stack adds6 comments
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rayna
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On the beach in San Juan -- love reading books in the places they're set!

Tav Me too! I read John Irving's Brazil in Brazil and it was strange and lovely. 8y
Notafraidofwords I miss my island so much. Enjoy! 8y
MrBook Nice! 8y
Beckys_Books So jealous 8y
Gulfsidemusing So do I!📚😎 8y
32 likes5 comments
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rayna
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Cloudy day #beachread.

RealLifeReading The book synopsis sounds good. How are you liking it? 8y
rayna @RealLifeReading I'm only about 100 pages in but really enjoying it so far! 8y
25 likes1 stack add2 comments
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bookishkai

I keep thinking of more books to talk about for DiversityFriday. I read this in college for my American Studies class, which was focused largely on the immigrant experience in the US. I'd be interested to see a reading list for a current class with the same theme today.

Reviewsbylola I read this for a college course too and I loved it so much that I promptly read the author's other memoirs. 8y
stephhammer I love Santiago's books & even used one of her other memoirs in my master's thesis. 8y
57 likes4 stack adds3 comments
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readtheworld
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Book mail is the best mail!

18 likes1 stack add