When the Spirits Dance Mambo: Growing Up Nuyorican in El Barrio Paperback – 15 April 2018

Wow is all I could say as I kept my eyes glued to the pages. It brought back so many stories that I use to hear about the old times. When spiritual practices were once actively practiced in the African American community even though the story is about Nuyoricans. I really appreciated how she included in her story about the great salsa singers and how they would perform at the Apollo Theatre.I won't tell you everything she writes about but, I can say that Vega painted a wonderful picture of her childhood. That makes you easily relate to her experience of being a brown-skinned Latina in the middle of the 20th century. Her story however, makes you want to have a rich relationship with her Abuela (Grandmother), who was the glue of her family. She also paints a very descriptive story of how it was growing up as a Nuyorican in East Harlem.There is also a great wealth of information in this book regarding Afro-Puerto Rican practices, which makes the book even more exciting. As others have expressed, I hated to put this book down and definitely hated for it to end. Since reading this book I have recommended it to others because it is a great memoir.

This is the authors second book I read , I loved them both. I am a culture lover, so I enjoyed the mysteries of the El barrio. I am about 20 pages to the end. It's warm and fuzzy :) I would recommend it. I love to sit at the feet of elders and hear there stories, this is what the book felt like to me.

Love this book takes you back to the days of young love you g mambo dancers when swear parent came to live in New York back in the 50 it’s a great love story a must read am on my 4 read of this book some one should make it into a movie

Being a native of El Barrio I deeply appreciated this book and its story.

She rocks