Module 14

 Poetry & Story Collections

Call me Maria by Judith Ortiz Cofer

BibliographyCofer, J. O.  (2004). Call me Maria. New York, NY: Orchard Books.

ISBN 0-439-38577-6

Summary

The story of Maria Alegre, a.k.a. Maria Triste, is told through: letters, poems, and prose.  It's  about a girl who had to choose to stay in the island of Puerto Rico where she was born and New York--where she lives in the basement apartment with her father.  The choice was not that easy, since she had to either stay with her mom (in the island) or move with her father to the Barrio he grew up in.  Her father, who was born in America, Puerto Rican-America, but moved to Puerto Rico and met her mother (Puerto Rican) fell in love got married and stay there.  But after years of being there, he misses his home and it's causing him to change and go into depression, so he decides to move back.  Unfortunately Maria's mother loves her home and does not want to move, she teaches English and loves what she does.  So in order for maria to get better education (and to take care of her dad) she goes with him to New York, and now she must learn how to be a Puerto Rican American in the Barrio they live in, and find out where she belongs, can she be both Marias?


My Impression

I think this is a nice story and liked its creative writing in all three forms.  It would be a good book for teenagers since they are going through figuring out who they are and where they belong.  It would be a great book to use for ESL classes which are very diverse since it is mainly students coming to a new country and trying to learn the language and fit it.   


Reviews

Editorial Reviews

With Call Me Maria, Judith Ortiz Cofer delivers a poignant story of a sixteen-year-old Puerto Rican girl trying to find her place in the barrio of New York. Maria has gone with her father as he returns to the place of his childhood leaving her mother behind for a temporary time. Maria's father is a superintendent and a jack-of-all- trades as he takes care of the needs of the tenants in the building. Maria accepts the responsibility of making their basement apartment into a home--a home where she sits from her desk doing schoolwork and looking up at the feet that walk down the sidewalk. Maria befriends Whoopie, who teaches her the way of the barrio and how to master Spanglish. When her mother does come to New York a year later, Maria realizes it is only for a visit and not to live. Though both parents want her, Maria decides to stay with her father because she has come to accept the life of the barrio. Maria's voice is a strength in this uniquely written novel as Cofer comfortably transitions between prose, letters, and poetry.  

VOYA

Fifteen-year-old Maria is a Puerto Rican girl living in the New York barrio. She speaks Spanish, English, and is learning Spanglish. Some days she is Maria Alegre, but other days she is Maria Triste living out the battle between her island Puerto Rican mother and her mainland Puerto Rican father. Her mother loves the island with its beaches and sunshine; her father loves his hometown New York-its street life, its pavement, its promise. When he leaves Puerto Rico to return to New York, Maria chooses to go with him, to look after him and to have an American education. It is a decision with sacrifice but she sticks to it. Using a pastiche of poems, letters, and pensamientos, Maria shares her memories, her feelings and her poetically expressed impressions of the world around her. She deftly depicts the characters populating her universe-the people in her building and on the street, her teachers, her family, her free-spirited girlfriend Whoopee Dominquez, her impressionable neighbor Uma, and the fifth-floor Papi-lindo, the Latin lover-in -raining who devastates girls with his charm. This short book is full of lyrical writing, memorable portraits, deep sentiment, and acute observations about being a daughter, a teenager, an immigrant, an outsider, a seeker of beauty, a user of language, and the creator of your own identity. VOYA CODES: 4Q 3P J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Will appeal with pushing; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12).


Use in Library Setting

This book is a great addition to any library.  It would be great for middle and high school students, and/or used as a novel for ESL classrooms.


Review. (n.d.). Call me Maria. [Review of the book Call me Maria]. Barnes & Noble. Available from

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/call-me-maria-judith-ortiz-cofer/1006258175?ean=9780439385787

Image from


http://www.strandbooks.com/hispanic-studies/call-me-maria-a-novel-in-letters-poems-and-prose