This article focuses on the complex web of issues involved in Esmeralda Santiago's acculturation to US society after arriving from Puerto Rico as a girl. The article is based on examples from Santiago's second memoir, "Almost a Woman" (1998) and the 2001 film adaptation of this memoir; the observations of critics who have written about other authors who have gone through the process of acculturation; and the theories about acculturation by anthropologist Selim Abou. (Contains 6 notes.)