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School Library Journal Review

Gr 5-8-An adequate, rather adulatory biography on the life of Puerto Rico's first elected governor. While the beginning of the book focuses on his personal life and desire to be a writer, the latter part concentrates on his political career and efforts to bring about social and political reform in his native land. The man's life is conveyed clearly and chronologically, although the author does not include the exact years of many events within the text, which could lead to some confusion. On the plus side, the book contains an excellent timeline, good notes, a great appendix, and an interesting afterword that discusses the current status of Puerto Rico. Average-quality black-and-white photos appear throughout. A book that will be of most use to libraries needing more than scant reference information on Muñoz Marín, especially in areas with large Hispanic populations.-Margaret B. Rafferty, Gwinnett-Forsyth Regional Library, GA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

Gr. 5-8. Not only an intriguing biography of Munoz Marin, the poet-politician responsible for engineering Puerto Rico's status as a commonwealth of the U.S. and raising living standards for its citizens, this book is also a history of the island during this century and an assessment of the ongoing issue of the country's status. Bernier-Grand capably depicts Munoz Marin, who moved easily in both American and Puerto Rican cultures, as an idealistic, romantic figure who struggled for years to reform Puerto Rico and to achieve the best possible resolution to the status question. Her book will be a valuable introduction to an eminent political figure, and it will also raise awareness of the status issue, which will be readdressed by Congress in 1997. --Chris Sherman