“Hablamos los dos. We speak both (p. 1).” A statement offered by a9-year-old girl defines the principle assertion of this book: Bilinguals have available to them atleast two distinct repertoires of language that they are able to manipulate and mix to achieve theirunique discourse needs and to express their multicultural identities. This book explores thenetwork of relationships of 20 Puerto Rican families in a low-income neighborhood calledel bloque in New York City. Zentella, herself a Nuyorican (New YorkPuertoRican), has provided us a window on a world as only an insider can. She follows the families inand out of el bloque for 13 years, monitoring their bilingual behavior and thesociolinguistic factors that contribute to maintenance or loss of bilingual ability.