“CAN I BE PUERTO RICAN? If I was born in Brooklyn? If I’ve never been to Puerto Rico? If I mix my English with my Spanish? If I cop quenepas from the Chino spot? If I don’t know the Boricua national anthem? If I can’t name our national heroes? Can I be Puerto Rican? If the closest I’ve come to the beach is la pompa? If I can’t dance salsa? If all I got is a feeling? Can I be Puerto Rican? If all I got is a feeling?”

Sarai, a first generation Puerto Rican, who is the first person in her family to graduate 8th grade, tells this novel in verse.

She and her family live in extreme poverty in Bushwick New York. The poems are about her life in general involving domestic violence, teenage pregnancy, extreme poverty, violence, racism, feminism, and identity.

Very powerful, both sad and hopeful.