From Publishers Weekly Castro's regime began in 1959， and Anders's family fled a year later， arriving in Maryland when Anders was a toddler. At this memoir's heart is Anders's relationship with her mother， Mami， whom the author alternately worships and scorns (leading to decades of therapy for Anders as an adult). Mami prepared Anders early for the life she should have: that of pampered wife. Standing over her infant's crib， Mami murmured， " 'Tafetán color champán.' " Anders writes， "It took about a year of hearing this bizarre mantra over and over before I was old enough to finally understand what... my mother was talking about: the color and fabric of my wedding dress." Mami is a complex woman who does puzzling things， like bringing four-year-old Anders to her job at a mental hospital every day because she doesn't believe in summer camp. But Anders doesn't sufficiently explain Mami's reasonings， and much of what she complains about is average adolescent angst. When Anders does find herself in serious situations， she resorts to humor， keeping the tone so light， readers are kept at a distance. If only this memoir had the frothy richness of the café con leches Anders so loves. Copyright © Reed Business Information， a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition. From Booklist Starred Review Oy veh and ay caramba! What an upbringing Washington Post writer Anders had! Writing in a unique voice that captures the distinctiveness of both her Jewish and Cuban heritages， Anders becomes a sort of Alice in Wonderland， leading readers through a looking-glass life， before and after her parents were forced from Cuba in the wake of Castro's revolution. Anders remembers a princess-perfect world in Havana， where her Jewish grandparents had immigrated in the 1920s and made their fortunes. Then， in a poignantly funny scene， the clan must leave with almost nothing. The guards even demand Anders surrender her red tricycle， but she fights them off with a signature willpower that becomes more evident as the story proceeds. Handled equally well are her Cuban Jewish， fish-out-of-water stories， culminating at her eastern private school， Sidwell Friends， or as she calls it， Frenzy. There's only one character more fascinating than Anders， and that's her gorgeous， redheaded， red-fingernailed， potty-mouthed ("Fohk!") Mami. And Mami's unquenchable charisma is the ongoing problem in the relationship between mother and daughter. Gigi is always playing catch-up with a mother who doesn't even know there's a competition on. Often laugh-out-loud funny， with lots of Spanglish dialogue and priceless cross-cultural moments， this is more than a read; it's an experience. Ilene CooperCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.