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The Time it Snowed in Puerto Rico

The Time it Snowed in Puerto Rico

Author(s): Sarah McCoy

Location(s): Puerto Rico

Genre(s): Fiction

Era(s): 1960s

Location

Content

It is 1961 and Puerto Rico is trapped in a tug-of-war between those who want to stay connected to the United States and those who are fighting for independence. For eleven-year-old Verdita Ortiz-Santiago, the struggle for independence is a battle fought much closer to home.

Verdita has always been safe and secure in her sleepy mountain town, far from the excitement of the capital city of San Juan or the glittering shores of the United States, where her older cousin lives. She will be a señorita soon, which, as her mother reminds her, means that she will be expected to cook and clean, go to Mass every day, choose arroz con pollo over hamburguesas, and give up her love for Elvis. And yet, as much as Verdita longs to escape this seemingly inevitable future and become a blond American bombshell, she is still a young girl who is scared by late-night stories of the chupacabra, who wishes her mother would still rub her back and sing her a lullaby, and who is both ashamed and exhilarated by her changing body.

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Book Reviews

Lead Review

If you’re looking for an enjoyable coming-of-age story that transports you to 1960’s Puerto Rico I highly recommend this debut novel by Sarah McCoy. (LeftTurnLady)

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