An autobiographical memoir of a major U.S. author unfolds many of the experiences and insights that later fueled her outstanding novels and short fiction for youth, including El Bronx Remembered, Felita, In Nueva York and Nilda , all initially published by Harper, as well as her varied works for adult readers. Providing the same strong sense of place and people and the emotional content one discovers in her fiction, Mohr's selection of details underscore her memories, her strong sense of family and the spirituality of her mother's culture. Mohr's imagination offered deliverance and salvation throughout the years when she (along with many other Puerto Rican - American children whose first home was New York City and first language was English) found herself discounted by the educational system and invisible in the larger society. (Age 12 and older)

The author recounts her youth in Spanish Harlem and her overwhelming desire to succeed as an author.