A Girl Named Rosita

Question 1

After days of wobbly decks and stormy seas, a stature of a woman wearing a crown rises up to greet them.

Answer 1

A Girl named Rosita

Question 2

Out of the cold and away from the noise she returns to a home that isn’t home.

Answer 2

A Girl named Rosita

Question 3

If she only knew more ingles, she could tell the bullies: Denjenme en Paz!

Answer 3

A Girl named Rosita

Question 4

Clap Clap Clap

Answer 4

A Girl named Rosita

Question 5

The music begins. Strum Strum Strum!

Answer 5

A Girl named Rosita

Question 6

Her palms are sweating as she shakes the hand of the man who can change her life.

Answer 6

A Girl named Rosita

Question 7

Please, she prays. Anything but Orchid!

Answer 7

A Girl named Rosita

Question 8

One day she will play an authentic character who is bold, proud, strong.

Answer 8

A Girl named Rosita

Question 9

Some days she wants to quit. But she’s come too far to give up.

Answer 9

A Girl named Rosita

Question 10

Run! Out of the schoolyard, past the bullies in the streets.

Answer 10

A Girl named Rosita

Question 11

Then - Cue the music: Horns, Strings, Percussion!

Answer 11

A Girl named Rosita

Question 12

A sacred silence descends.

Answer 12

A Girl named Rosita

Question 13

In a tiny cottage tucked between El Yunque Peak and a wild fragrant rainforest lives a girl: a girl with the rhythm of the rainforest in her feet and the sweetness of the sugarcane fields in her swishing skirts.

Answer 13

A Girl named Rosita

Question 14

Step, turn, snap-kick, swish, jump, twirl!

Answer 14

A Girl named Rosita

Question 15

I am taking you first because you are a big girl and you won’t cry.

Answer 15

A Girl named Rosita

Question 16

Corre! She tells herself each day on her way home from school.

Answer 16

A Girl named Rosita

Question 17

Run! So the bullies don’t catch you.

Answer 17

A Girl named Rosita

Question 18

Out of the cold and away from the noise, she returns to a home that isn’t home.

Answer 18

A Girl named Rosita

Question 19

Pronto, pronto!

Answer 19

A Girl named Rosita

Question 20

Leave me alone!

Answer 20

A Girl named Rosita

Question 21

Is leaving behind her native Spanish like letting go of her native island and all the things she loves?

Answer 21

A Girl named Rosita

Question 22

Day after day, she practices until she can speak ingles perfectly.

Answer 22

A Girl named Rosita

Question 23

And dances!

Answer 23

A Girl named Rosita

Question 24

Forward, forward, back, back, kick…pasada!

Answer 24

A Girl named Rosita

Question 25

Right, swing, back, side, hold...ole!

Answer 25

A Girl named Rosita

Question 26

Onstage, she is home.

Answer 26

A Girl named Rosita

Question 27

Why not me?

Answer 27

A Girl named Rosita

Question 28

I can be a leading lady, too.

Answer 28

A Girl named Rosita

Question 29

Then - a miracle happens.

Answer 29

A Girl named Rosita

Question 30

Her palms are sweating as she shakes the hand of the man who can change her life.

Answer 30

A Girl named Rosita

Question 31

This time, the movie studio chooses.

Answer 31

A Girl named Rosita

Question 32

"I've got it!" says the casting director.

Answer 32

A Girl named Rosita

Question 33

metro-goldwyn-mayer studios

Answer 33

A Girl named Rosita

Question 34

Years after teaching herself to speak perfect ingles, she must fake an all-purpose accent to play maidens, slaves, and Spanish spitfires: the only roles Hollywood will give a Latina.

Answer 34

A Girl named Rosita

Question 35

Some days she wants to quit.

Answer 35

A Girl named Rosita

Question 36

But she's come too far to give up.

Answer 36

A Girl named Rosita

Question 37

In 1959, the newspapers announce the Hollywood is making West Side Story, the hit Broadway musical, into a movie!

Answer 37

A Girl named Rosita

Question 38

For a month, she practices.

Answer 38

A Girl named Rosita

Question 39

Step, turn, snap-kick, swish, jump, TWIRL!

Answer 39

A Girl named Rosita

Question 40

Corre! Run! Out of the schoolyard, past the bullies in the streets.

Answer 40

A Girl named Rosita

Question 41

Tears. Anger. Fear, And...scene.

Answer 41

A Girl named Rosita

Question 42

Then - cue the music: horns, strings, percussion!

Answer 42

A Girl named Rosita

Question 43

The role is hers.

Answer 43

A Girl named Rosita

Question 44

In barrios throughout the city, Puerto Ricans gather around their television sets to watch the 34th Academy Awards.

Answer 44

A Girl named Rosita

Question 45

No Puerto Rican, or any Latina, has ever won an Oscar.

Answer 45

A Girl named Rosita

Question 46

A sacred silence descends.

Answer 46

A Girl named Rosita

Question 47

A collective breath is held.

Answer 47

A Girl named Rosita

Question 48

Who will take home the award?

Answer 48

A Girl named Rosita

Question 49

"May I have the envelope, please?"

Answer 49

A Girl named Rosita

Question 50

"She won! She won! She did it!" her fans cry.

Answer 50

A girl named rosita

Question 51

But who was she before all that?

Answer 51

A Girl named Rosita (Book jacket)

Question 52

She makes a conscious choice to keep working, but it means signing with 20th Century Fox and playing more "dusky damsels".

Answer 52

A Girl named Rosita (Timeline)

Question 53

On set, she is uncomfortable with makeup used to make all the Puerto Ricans the same shade of brown, yet she remains proud to be a part of the historic film.

Answer 53

A Girl named Rosita (Timeline)

Question 54

Fed up with being offered demeaning roles, she refuses to play them and instead tackles stage roles in London and New York.

Answer 54

A Girl named Rosita (Timeline)

Question 55

She joins the cast of The Electric Company, a children's television show, where she coins the memorable catchphrase, "Hey, you guys!"

Answer 55

A Girl named Rosita (Timeline)

Question 56

My fame is her fame. Therefore, this beautiful, precious honor is also in her honor.

Answer 56

A Girl named Rosita (Timeline)

Question 57

She is one of three entertains, and the only Latinx performer, to have earned a Peabody, Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award.

Answer 57

A Girl Named Rosita (Author's Note)

Question 58

Another was having to endure Hollywood's racist and sexist attitudes - which meant accepting secondary roles rooted in gender stereotypes and riddled with cultural inaccuracies.

Answer 58

A Girl Named Rosita (Author's Note)

Question 59

I was one of those young women.

Answer 59

A Girl Named Rosita (Author's Note)

Question 60

Overwhelmed (and underdressed) to meet one of my childhood idols - I froze!

Answer 60

A Girl Named Rosita (Author's Note)

Question 61

Oh, how I wished I'd found the courage to tell her that for a Puerto Rican kid from Queens who loved the performing arts, she'd been a much-needed role model and inspiration.

Answer 61

A Girl Named Rosita (Author's Note)

Question 62

She still inspires me today.

Answer 62

A Girl Named Rosita (Author's Note)

Question 63

Not just for her groundbreaking achievements but for how she continuously uses her voice to help others.

Answer 63

A Girl Named Rosita (Author's Note)

Question 64

I do believe with all of my heart and soul, that yearning masses will always huddle on the border of hope.

Answer 64

A Girl Named Rosita (Author's Note)

Question 65

And I pray that America will always be that beacon of those people's dream.

Answer 65

A Girl Named Rosita (Author's Note)