
Becoming Maria: Love and Chaos in the South Bronx
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $21.83
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Sonia Manzano
-
By:
-
Sonia Manzano
About this listen
The Pura Belpré Honor winner for The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano and one of America's most influential Hispanics - Maria on Sesame Street - delivers a beautifully wrought coming-of-age memoir. Set in the 1970s in the Bronx, this is the story of a girl with a dream. Emmy Award-winning actress and writer Sonia Manzano plunges us into the daily lives of a Latino family that is loving - and troubled. This is Sonia's own story rendered with an unforgettable narrative power.
When listeners meet young Sonia, she is a child living amid the squalor of a boisterous home that is filled with noisy relatives and nosy neighbors. Each day she is glued to the TV screen that blots out the painful realities of her existence and also illuminates the possibilities that lie ahead. But - click! - when the TV goes off, Sonia is taken back to real life - the cramped, colorful world of her neighborhood and an alcoholic father. But it is Sonia's dream of becoming an actress that keeps her afloat among the turbulence of her life and times. Spiced with culture, heartache, and humor, this memoir paints a lasting portrait of a girl's resilience as she grows up to become an inspiration to millions.
©2015 Sonia Manzano (P)2015 Scholastic Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
My Name Is Barbra
- By: Barbra Streisand
- Narrated by: Barbra Streisand
- Length: 48 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Barbra Streisand is by any account a living legend, a woman who in a career spanning six decades has excelled in every area of entertainment. She is among the handful of EGOT winners (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony) and has one of the greatest and most recognizable voices in the history of popular music. She has been nominated for a Grammy 46 times, and with Yentl she became the first woman to write, produce, direct, and star in a major motion picture. In My Name Is Barbra, she tells her own story about her life and extraordinary career.
-
-
BARBRA IS LIKE BUTTAH!
- By JoeGato57 on 11-08-23
By: Barbra Streisand
-
Being Henry
- The Fonz . . . and Beyond
- By: Henry Winkler
- Narrated by: Henry Winkler
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Henry Winkler, launched into prominence as “The Fonz” in the beloved Happy Days, has transcended the role that made him who he is. Brilliant, funny, and widely regarded as the nicest man in Hollywood (though he would be the first to tell you that it’s simply not the case, he’s really just grateful to be here), Henry shares in this achingly vulnerable memoir the disheartening truth of his childhood, the difficulties of a life with severe dyslexia, the pressures of a role that takes on a life of its own, and the path forward once your wildest dream seems behind you.
-
-
Sweet human
- By Lisa Singer on 11-07-23
By: Henry Winkler
-
Taste
- My Life Through Food
- By: Stanley Tucci
- Narrated by: Stanley Tucci
- Length: 6 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Stanley Tucci grew up in an Italian American family that spent every night around the kitchen table. He shared the magic of those meals with us in The Tucci Cookbook and The Tucci Table, and now he takes us beyond the savory recipes and into the compelling stories behind them. Taste is a reflection on the intersection of food and life, filled with anecdotes about his growing up in Westchester, New York.
-
-
Should include a pdf of recipes
- By Jen Griffin on 10-23-21
By: Stanley Tucci
-
Making It So
- A Memoir
- By: Patrick Stewart
- Narrated by: Patrick Stewart
- Length: 18 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From his acclaimed stage triumphs to his legendary onscreen work in the Star Trek and X-Men franchises, Sir Patrick Stewart has captivated audiences around the world and across multiple generations with his indelible command of stage and screen. Now, he presents his long-awaited memoir, Making It So, a revealing portrait of an artist whose astonishing life—from his humble beginnings in Yorkshire, England, to the heights of Hollywood and worldwide acclaim—proves a story as exuberant, definitive, and enduring as the author himself.
-
-
Incredible! So much more than a memoir
- By Jason on 10-04-23
By: Patrick Stewart
-
Not That Fancy
- Simple Lessons on Living, Loving, Eating, and Dusting Off Your Boots
- By: Reba McEntire
- Narrated by: Reba McEntire, Dolly Parton, Carly Pearce, and others
- Length: 6 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The best things in life are really not that fancy. This audiobook featuring all-things-Reba invites you to get back to the basics of life: fun, food, friends, and family. In her first book in over two decades, actress and country music legend Reba McEntire takes you behind the scenes and shares the stories, recipes, and Oklahoma-style truths that guide her life.
-
-
The queen didn’t disappoint
- By jojouknow on 10-18-23
By: Reba McEntire
-
Clap When You Land
- By: Elizabeth Acevedo
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Acevedo, Melania-Luisa Marte
- Length: 5 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a novel-in-verse that brims with grief and love, National Book Award-winning and New York Times best-selling author Elizabeth Acevedo writes about the devastation of loss, the difficulty of forgiveness, and the bittersweet bonds that shape our lives.
-
-
Narration
- By VB on 06-05-20
-
My Name Is Barbra
- By: Barbra Streisand
- Narrated by: Barbra Streisand
- Length: 48 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Barbra Streisand is by any account a living legend, a woman who in a career spanning six decades has excelled in every area of entertainment. She is among the handful of EGOT winners (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony) and has one of the greatest and most recognizable voices in the history of popular music. She has been nominated for a Grammy 46 times, and with Yentl she became the first woman to write, produce, direct, and star in a major motion picture. In My Name Is Barbra, she tells her own story about her life and extraordinary career.
-
-
BARBRA IS LIKE BUTTAH!
- By JoeGato57 on 11-08-23
By: Barbra Streisand
-
Being Henry
- The Fonz . . . and Beyond
- By: Henry Winkler
- Narrated by: Henry Winkler
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Henry Winkler, launched into prominence as “The Fonz” in the beloved Happy Days, has transcended the role that made him who he is. Brilliant, funny, and widely regarded as the nicest man in Hollywood (though he would be the first to tell you that it’s simply not the case, he’s really just grateful to be here), Henry shares in this achingly vulnerable memoir the disheartening truth of his childhood, the difficulties of a life with severe dyslexia, the pressures of a role that takes on a life of its own, and the path forward once your wildest dream seems behind you.
-
-
Sweet human
- By Lisa Singer on 11-07-23
By: Henry Winkler
-
Taste
- My Life Through Food
- By: Stanley Tucci
- Narrated by: Stanley Tucci
- Length: 6 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Stanley Tucci grew up in an Italian American family that spent every night around the kitchen table. He shared the magic of those meals with us in The Tucci Cookbook and The Tucci Table, and now he takes us beyond the savory recipes and into the compelling stories behind them. Taste is a reflection on the intersection of food and life, filled with anecdotes about his growing up in Westchester, New York.
-
-
Should include a pdf of recipes
- By Jen Griffin on 10-23-21
By: Stanley Tucci
-
Making It So
- A Memoir
- By: Patrick Stewart
- Narrated by: Patrick Stewart
- Length: 18 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From his acclaimed stage triumphs to his legendary onscreen work in the Star Trek and X-Men franchises, Sir Patrick Stewart has captivated audiences around the world and across multiple generations with his indelible command of stage and screen. Now, he presents his long-awaited memoir, Making It So, a revealing portrait of an artist whose astonishing life—from his humble beginnings in Yorkshire, England, to the heights of Hollywood and worldwide acclaim—proves a story as exuberant, definitive, and enduring as the author himself.
-
-
Incredible! So much more than a memoir
- By Jason on 10-04-23
By: Patrick Stewart
-
Not That Fancy
- Simple Lessons on Living, Loving, Eating, and Dusting Off Your Boots
- By: Reba McEntire
- Narrated by: Reba McEntire, Dolly Parton, Carly Pearce, and others
- Length: 6 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The best things in life are really not that fancy. This audiobook featuring all-things-Reba invites you to get back to the basics of life: fun, food, friends, and family. In her first book in over two decades, actress and country music legend Reba McEntire takes you behind the scenes and shares the stories, recipes, and Oklahoma-style truths that guide her life.
-
-
The queen didn’t disappoint
- By jojouknow on 10-18-23
By: Reba McEntire
-
Clap When You Land
- By: Elizabeth Acevedo
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Acevedo, Melania-Luisa Marte
- Length: 5 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a novel-in-verse that brims with grief and love, National Book Award-winning and New York Times best-selling author Elizabeth Acevedo writes about the devastation of loss, the difficulty of forgiveness, and the bittersweet bonds that shape our lives.
-
-
Narration
- By VB on 06-05-20
-
The Light We Carry
- Overcoming in Uncertain Times
- By: Michelle Obama
- Narrated by: Michelle Obama
- Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There may be no tidy solutions or pithy answers to life’s big challenges, but Michelle Obama believes that we can all locate and lean on a set of tools to help us better navigate change and remain steady within flux. In The Light We Carry, she opens a frank and honest dialogue with listeners, considering the questions many of us wrestle with: How do we build enduring and honest relationships? How can we discover strength and community inside our differences? What tools do we use to address feelings of self-doubt or helplessness? What do we do when it all starts to feel like too much?
-
-
Very Disappointing—Too Ego-filled
- By Patricia Webb on 11-29-22
By: Michelle Obama
-
The Color of Water
- A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother
- By: James McBride
- Narrated by: JD Jackson, Susan Denaker
- Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Who is Ruth McBride Jordan? A self-declared "light-skinned" woman evasive about her ethnicity, yet steadfast in her love for her 12 Black children. James McBride, journalist, musician, and son, explores his mother's past, as well as his own upbringing and heritage, in a poignant and powerful debut, The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother.
-
-
Awesome
- By Michael on 05-30-17
By: James McBride
-
Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns)
- By: Mindy Kaling
- Narrated by: Mindy Kaling, Michael Schur, B. J. Novak
- Length: 4 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mindy Kaling has lived many lives: the obedient child of immigrant professionals, a timid chubster afraid of her own bike, a Ben Affleck–impersonating Off-Broadway performer and playwright, and, finally, a comedy writer and actress prone to starting fights with her friends and coworkers with the sentence “Can I just say one last thing about this, and then I swear I’ll shut up about it?”
-
-
If you like Mindy, you'll enjoy this listen.
- By Lisa on 01-04-12
By: Mindy Kaling
-
Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama
- A Memoir
- By: Bob Odenkirk
- Narrated by: Bob Odenkirk, Steve Rudnick, Leo Benvenuti
- Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bob Odenkirk’s career is inexplicable. And yet he will try like hell to explicate it for you. Charting a “Homeric” decades-long “odyssey” from his origins in the seedy comedy clubs of Chicago to a dramatic career full of award nominations - with a side trip into the action-man world that is baffling to all who know him - it’s almost like there are many Bob Odenkirks! But there is just one and one is plenty. Featuring humorous tangents, wild characters, and Bob’s trademark unflinching drive, Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama is a classic tale told by a determined idiot.
-
-
Not great
- By D. Moore on 04-12-22
By: Bob Odenkirk
-
Olga Dies Dreaming
- A Novel
- By: Xochitl Gonzalez
- Narrated by: Almarie Guerra, Inés del Castillo, Armando Riesco
- Length: 11 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s 2017, and Olga and her brother, Pedro “Prieto” Acevedo” are bold-faced names in their hometown of New York. Prieto is a popular Congressman representing their gentrifying Latinx neighborhood in Brooklyn while Olga is the tony wedding planner for Manhattan’s powerbrokers. Despite their alluring public lives, behind closed doors things are far less rosy. Sure, Olga can orchestrate the love stories of the one percent, but she can’t seem to find her own...until she meets Matteo, who forces her to confront the effects of long-held family secrets.
-
-
Funny, romantic, serious, substantial—all of these things and more
- By Diana on 01-07-22
By: Xochitl Gonzalez
-
Waxing On
- The Karate Kid and Me
- By: Ralph Macchio
- Narrated by: Ralph Macchio
- Length: 5 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Since The Karate Kid first crane-kicked its way into the pop culture stratosphere in June 1984, there hasn’t been a week Ralph Macchio hasn’t heard friendly shouts of “Wax on, wax off” or “Sweep the leg!” Now, with Macchio reprising his role as Daniel LaRusso in the number one ranked Netflix show Cobra Kai, he is finally ready to look back at this classic movie and give the fans something they’ve long craved.
-
-
Love Ralph
- By VINLV on 10-20-22
By: Ralph Macchio
-
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter
- By: Erika L. Sánchez
- Narrated by: Kyla Garcia
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Perfect Mexican daughters do not go away to college. And they do not move out of their parents' house after high school graduation. Perfect Mexican daughters never abandon their family. But Julia is not your perfect Mexican daughter. That was Olga's role. Then a tragic accident on the busiest street in Chicago leaves Olga dead and Julia left behind to reassemble the shattered pieces of her family. And no one seems to acknowledge that Julia is broken, too. Instead, her mother seems to channel her grief into pointing out every possible way Julia has failed.
-
-
FOR LATINAS WHO ARE OFTEN TOLD THEY "SOUND WHITE"
- By Alex on 12-14-18
By: Erika L. Sánchez
-
She's Come Undone
- By: Wally Lamb
- Narrated by: Linda Stephens
- Length: 18 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Meet Dolores Price. She's 13, wise-mouthed but wounded, having bid her childhood goodbye. Beached like a whale in front of her bedroom TV, she spends the next few years nourishing herself with the Mallomars, potato chips, and Pepsi her anxious mother supplies. When she finally rolls into young womanhood at 257 pounds, Dolores is no stronger and life is no kinder. But this time she's determined to rise to the occasion and give herself one more chance before really going belly-up.
-
-
Really disappointing narrator!
- By DrJessWill on 01-21-12
By: Wally Lamb
-
Running with Scissors
- A Memoir
- By: Augusten Burroughs
- Narrated by: Augusten Burroughs
- Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Running with Scissors is the true story of a boy whose mother (a poet with delusions of being Anne Sexton) gave him away to be raised by her psychiatrist, a dead ringer for Santa and a lunatic in the bargain.
-
-
NOT what I was expecting
- By Art H on 04-25-03
-
The Distance Between Us
- A Memoir
- By: Reyna Grande
- Narrated by: Yareli Arizmendi
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this inspirational and unflinchingly honest memoir, acclaimed author Reyna Grande describes her childhood torn between the United States and Mexico, and shines a light on the experiences, fears, and hopes of those who choose to make the harrowing journey across the border. Reyna Grande vividly brings to life her tumultuous early years in this “compelling...unvarnished, resonant” (BookPage) story of a childhood spent torn between two parents and two countries.
-
-
opened my eyes to the beauty of our stories
- By Evelyn on 09-18-20
By: Reyna Grande
-
Who Do You Love
- A Novel
- By: Jennifer Weiner
- Narrated by: Sarah Steele, JD Jackson
- Length: 13 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Rachel Blum and Andy Landis are eight years old when they meet late one night in an ER waiting room. Born with a congenital heart defect, Rachel is a veteran of hospitals, and she's intrigued by the boy who shows up all alone with a broken arm. He tells her his name. She tells him a story. After Andy's taken back to the emergency room and Rachel's sent back to her bed, they think they'll never see each other again.
-
-
Performer
- By Christine C. on 01-14-17
By: Jennifer Weiner
-
Orange Mint and Honey
- By: Carleen Brice
- Narrated by: Cherise Booth
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After grad school, Shay Dixon feels like she's had enough for awhile. Inspired by her spiritual adviser - a soul-soothing blues player named Nina Simon - Shay calls her estranged mother Nona for the first time in years, and shocks herself by asking if it would be okay to come home for a while.
-
-
One For The Money
- By DiaRose on 09-25-17
By: Carleen Brice
What listeners say about Becoming Maria: Love and Chaos in the South Bronx
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jose Barillas
- 04-15-20
The book listener
I liked the book it really spoke to me and I really liked the performance my name is Maria I really like the fact that you played a character named Maria on Sesame Street overall it was really really well done
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Gregory Gonzalez
- 12-25-20
Amazing
This is the greatest performance by a narrator in all my years listening to Audible and the narration is so powerful it almost takes over the story, but it can’t because it is Sonia Manzano herself. I loved it. I’m convinced now that not only is “Maria from Sesame Street” a national treasure, but the real Sonia Manzon is a Universal treasure.
I listened to this will quarantining with covid. I was looking back for comfort snd thought, “Why not listen to the story of that kindly Latina woman that made me feel so comfortable as a child.” I was a Latino boy from the Bronx trying to sound his syllables correctly and watching her. Now I’m a lawyer looking for inspiration and listening to her amazing story told with wit and daring. Thank you Sonia for this book and for all those childhood memories.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ivette Wright
- 01-11-23
Fantastic!
I absolutely love it when the auto-biography is read by the actual person, it makes everything so much livelier. You hear her personality come through. She was so candid and some parts a bit traumatic yet she spoke about them as to say “this was my life”. I pray she was able to break the cycle.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 01-12-23
Wonderful!
Well written, so much fun to hear the story of someone I've seen on TV since I was 2, and who grew up in the same part of the Bronx I did. I'm looking forward to more books from this author!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ginny Hannan
- 01-05-23
different narrator needed
I have heard so many great things about this book. I also grew up loving Sonia on TV. However, I couldn't make it past 5 minutes into the audible version because she sounded like she was yelling. I plan to read the print version though.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!