Product Description

a memoir including some poetry

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #426681 in Books
• Published on: 1990-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 168 pages

From Publishers Weekly
The essays and poems in Ortiz Cofer's latest collection bridge the gap between autobiography and fiction, between personal remembrance and social commentary. As she shuttles between her village in Puerto Rico and the concrete high-rise "barrio" in Paterson, N.J., where her family lived half of each year, Ortiz Cofer faces the displacement that all military children--her father was in the U.S. Navy--must endure. But her cultural dichotomy is more acute. Indeed, it forms the narrative structure of the book, providing the context for the timeless themes of coming of age. In "The Looking-Glass Shame," she contrasts her mother's implacable ties to island tradition with her own freedom to break them. Yet while America, "Los Nueva Yores," opens up new vistas for the author, it also threatens to eradicate her ancestral foundations, her deepest, most poignant childhood memories. Poet and novelist Ortiz Cofer ( The Line of the Sun ) recovers the warp and weft of her experience in stellar stories patterned after oral tradition. Essays appeared previously in the Georgia Review and other publications.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
"... for young readers, this is a delightful, thoughtful assessment of bicultural, bilingual life..." -- Booklist

Judith Ortiz Cofer's talent for story telling was learned at the knee of her grandmother, "Mama." In this entertaining and perceptive book, the author's life unfolds through tales set in Mama's room, in Puerto Rican pueblos, and in Paterson, New Jersey apartments. Her father joins the U.S. Navy, and when his ship is in port in New York City, the family lives in New Jersey; when he is at sea, they move back to Puerto Rico to a life with family and many friends. After Judith starts school, the family spends summers in Puerto Rico and the school year in New Jersey. Life there is very restricted: her father leaves instructions not to mingle with neighbors; he has plans for a better life for his family, certainly one better than the near-poverty conditions of this neighborhood. Judith Cofer's mother takes her husband's words to heart and rarely interacts with her New Jersey acquaintances, leaving Judith to become her mother's voice in dealing with neighbors and shopkeepers while her father is away. Her father, a strong person, takes on much of Judith's responsibility when he is home. This relieves her but also creates confusion about her role in the family. Growing up in two cultures, Judith both identifies with and feels rejected by each. This memoir, comprising essays that can stand alone, also includes some of the author's poems, which further illuminate her experiences and add to our understanding of this child of two worlds. -- For great reviews of books for girls, check out Let's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14. -- From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Holly Smith

From the Publisher
Recipient of the New York Public Library's 1991 Best Book for the Teen Age,a PEN citation, Martha Albrand Award for non-fiction and Pushcart Price.