Got a Girl Crush On: Sonia Manzano reading Junot Diaz’s “Wildwood”

You know her as Maria from Sesame Street (cast member since she was a teen in 1974!). But now that we’ve grown-up it was only fitting that our past grow with us and I couldn’t love a more compelling way than her reading of Junot Diaz’s short story about a Dominican daughter coming-of-age in the Jersey suburbs, “Wildwood” (originally written for The New Yorker and later went on to become part of his Pulitzer-winning novel, The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao).

“She was that kind of mother: who makes you doubt yourself, who would wipe you out if you let her. But I’m not going to pretend, either. For a long time I let her say what she wanted about me and, what was worse, for a long time I believed her.”

— Junot Diaz, “Wildwood”

This hour-long tale is captivating and worth bookmarking to listen to later if you can’t right now!

“Wildwood” performed for PRI’s Selected Shorts series (a highly recommendable podcast) which pairs short stories to be read by acclaimed actors and actresses.