Music to my years A mixtape memoir of growing up and standing up

Comedian and actor Alonzo gives an honest and heartfelt account of her life as a first-generation Mexican American. Each chapter is assigned a meaningful song, which accompanies a memory or life lesson that shaped her. Alonzo details the reality of growing up in Rio Grande Valley, Texas, where her family lived as squatters in an abandoned diner for the first seven years of her life. They eventually moved into a small loft-style home where she spent the rest of her childhood. As a latchkey kid, she developed a devout love for television, storytelling, and music. She intrinsically explores the themes of love, friendship, grief, and her determination in pursuit of her dream as a comedian. Alonzo crafts a humorous writing style that feels like an intimate conversation with readers. The jokes jump off the page and provide an emotional relief to the harsh realities of hardship and poverty she experienced. Alonzo's memoir is a timely reminder that regardless of economic status, race, or gender, love is the connection that ties together all humanity.--LaParis Hawkins Copyright 2010 Booklist