The Latina Survival Guide: A Memoir of Drama, Trauma and Telenovela Logic

by Charo Toledo, Carmen G. Cantor (Foreword)

Born in a hurricane and raised inside a telenovela, Charo Toledo survived a childhood of privilege, chaos, ghosts, and chancletas. In this sharp, funny, and deeply heartfelt memoir, she turns her Puerto Rican girlhood into a series of binge-worthy episodes filled with family drama, superstition, Catholic guilt, and resilience. The Latina Survival Guide is a wildly entertaining coming-of-age story about identity, inheritance, and rewriting the scripts we were given.

338 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 24, 2025

Reviews

[Wendy Payne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was laughing from the first page of the “Program Guide” aka Table of Contents.

This book is a masterpiece. Unbelievably well written, funny, serious, reflective, and I’m not even done reading it! I’m actually scared to finish because, it’s so entertaining, I don’t know what I’ll do with the rest of my life! Make sure you have post-its or a highlighter because there are many phrases you’ll want to repeat. You will NOT be disappointed!!!

[Betsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

If anyone wants to learn more about growing up in Puerto Rico,may give you some different perspectives. I did not attend all the schools she did and my family was not in the same income bracket but I could relate to some parts.

Its not written like other books but more like a script for a soap opera (telenovela). Humor, sarcasm, family relationships, and some generational trauma.