In this first of Esmeralda Santiago’s three memoirs, she brings to life a Puerto Rican childhood that was full of tenderness and domestic strife, tropical sounds and sights, as well as grim poverty. Her mother, Mami, is a force of nature, struggling to support her seven and soon-to-be eleven children. When Mami takes off to New York with them, Esmeralda, the oldest, must learn new strategies of survival and new dreams. In brilliant, moving, and often hilarious scenes, Santiago recreates the clash of Puerto Rican and Yankee culture.