Following the enchanting story recounted in When I Was Puerto Rican of the author€s emergence from the barrios of Brooklyn to the prestigious Performing Arts High School in Manhattan, Esmeralda Santiago delivers the tale of her young adulthood, where she continually strives to find a balance between becoming American and staying Puerto Rican. While translating for her mother Mami at the welfare office in the morning, starring as Cleopatra at New York€s prestigious Performing Arts High School in the afternoons, and dancing salsa all night, she begins to defy her mother€s protective rules, only to find that independence brings new dangers and dilemmas.