Before she was Sesame Street’s “Maria,” Sonia Manzano was navigating the poverty and abuse of 1950s New York City. With creativity, culture, and humor, she finds a way to survive and even thrive.

Well, despite this containing stories of abuse and poverty, hearing Manzano read it is practically soothing if you grew up with Sesame Street. She provides a wonderful sense of place and enough humor to balance out the severity of the plot. ( )

If you are like me, the name Sonia Manzano might not trigger any recognition but that quickly changed when I discovered that Manzano is best known for her role as Maria on the show Sesame Street, a role she played for 44 years. Aptly titled, Becoming Maria is an unflinching and affecting memoir of growing up in a poverty-stricken Puerto Rican family in the South Bronx. While there are some dark sides to her story – her father was an abusive, violent alcoholic and the family lived in abject poverty – she also shares some cherished memories, like the first time she went to summer camp, going to see West Side Story with a teacher and two other classmates, visiting Puerto Rico for the first time, playing hooky from school to go to the 1964 New York World’s Fair, and auditioning for a spot at Manhattan’s High School of Performing Arts. Manzano’s tells her story with unabashed frankness through a Nuyorican lens, assuming that the reader will be able to see and understand the world as she did as a Latino child. The memoir ends with Manzano’s audition for Sesame Street, so if you are hoping to read some behind the scenes stories about the show and its cast, you will not find it here.

Overall, a interesting, colourful glimpse into the South Bronx of the 1950s/60s. ( )

Narrated by the author. Sonia Manzano performs her memoir with a brassy Bronx gusto that illuminates her chaotic upbringing into young adulthood. There is her alcoholic, abusive father; long-suffering mother (whose regular cries of "Ave Maria purisima!" hilariously sum up her exasperation); and a passel of loving and dysfunctional relatives. Manzano may be a star of "Sesame Street" but this entertaining memoir is strictly for older teens and adults who remember her from the show. A wonderful story and performance by a beloved actress. ( )

This is a book of Sonia Manzano's abusive childhood through teenage years, prior to her working at Sesame Street. It is a story of growing up in an abusive family, led by an alcoholic. It is not a story of working with sesame Street as that is not included. The book concludes with an interview with the producer, not a job or any work there. There are just two mentions of Sesame Street within the book; seeing the show once at a friends house and liking the appearance of the neighborhood setting, and showing up for an interview with the producer that is a set up by her agent, not related to the author's desire to actually work there.

I recommend this book to those who have not read any memoirs of growing up in poverty, but not for the author's work with sesame Street since that is not part of this book.

The childhood is a story of abuse, alcoholism, neglect, ignorance, numerous women and girls trying to raise infants with no fathers present, theft, and lack of mentors. But it ends well for the author at least. ( )