Isabel's Hand-Me-Down Dreams

by Lopez, Isabel

• ISBN13: 9781466311343
• ISBN10: 1466311347
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-10-19
• Publisher: Createspace Independent Pub

Summary

The true story of a fatherless girl from Spanish Harlem who, through sheer will and the audacity to take chances, made it out of the rubble of the slums against seemingly insurmountable odds.Born in Puerto Rico and uprooted to El Barrio in New York at the age of three, Isabel and her siblings were raised by a volatile mother and their abuela, their only source of maternal nurturance. Without support and guidance in a teeming metropolis where few understood their language and culture, Isabel learned to rely on her own inner strength to reach summits and overcome adversity against reason and others' discouragement.This autobiography is more than a coming-of-age story. It's about coming into oneself with as much truth and dignity as possible and not shying away from a life that can sometimes throw one for a loop. It's a story about the power of friendship, love and redemption, about passion and soul and the difference between being alive and truly living.Told with panache and comedic flair and saturated with the color and vibrancy of life in El Barrio in the turbulent 60s and spirited 70s, this story will have you laughing one minute and crying the next, but ultimately, it leaves you with hope.