When the Spirits Dance Mambo : Growing Up Nuyorican in El Barrio

Rating:
Summary: excellent real-life story
Review: I actually cried at the end of this book. I bought it the day it went on sale and read it pretty much into the night. Marta Vega's story is both unique and universal. This book tells the story of her growing up in Spanish Harlem (El Barrio) and portrays the loving, close-knit working class who raised her. Her mama and abuela come across as very strong, resilient women, particularly her grandmother, who was an amazing soul. The book's title takes its name from the Latin/Island music that played everywhere in their neighborhood and home, and the orishas--spirit guardians--who Marta learned about from her grandmother. This is a very memorable, moving book. READ IT!

Rating:
Summary: a fantastic, unique memoir...
Review: Kudos to Marta Moreno Vega for this beautifully written, heartfelt memoir. When the Spirits Dance Mambo brings to life the hopes and dreams of Puerto Ricans living in East Harlem in the 50s and 60s. The book opens with young Marta and her sister Chachita huddled under the bed covers with a telephone. Their brother is on the line, and he's at the Palladium club, listening to live mambo music by some of the worlds best musicians. He holds up the receiver of the pay phone so his sisters can experience the music. In Marta's world, the mambo, and the other songs and rhythms of the Carribean, is everything. Her elderly grandmother--the most extraordinary character in this book--tells her that music is the connection between people and the spirits who guide and protect them. Her parents--a hard-working immigrant couple--are transformed into an elegant lady and gentleman when they dance together in the family's living room.

This memoir is an excellent coming-of-age story that reminded me a little of Esmeralda Santiago's When I was Puerto Rican, but the emphasis on music, and on the mystic Santeria religion, makes it a much more rewarding read. You come to know and love the Morenos and especially Marta's abuela. It's an amazing portrait of one author's past told through words and music. I highly recommend this book.