How Tia Lola Came to (Visit) Stay (The Tia Lola Stories) [Library Binding]

Julia Alvarez (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 13, 2001 | Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up | Series: The Tia Lola Stories

A delightfully entertaining story of family and culture from acclaimed author Julia Alvarez.

Moving to Vermont after his parents split, Miguel has plenty to worry about! Tía Lola, his quirky, carismática, and maybe magical aunt makes his life even more unpredictable when she arrives from the Dominican Republic to help out his Mami. Like her stories for adults, Julia Alvarez’s first middle-grade book sparkles with magic as it illuminates a child’s experiences living in two cultures.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

With her brilliantly hued flower-print dresses, her maracas and tambor, and the migrating beauty mark over her lipsticked mouth, Tia Lola stands out in Vermont like a tropical bird in a snowstorm. Her nephew, 10-year-old Miguel, just wants to fit in to his new home. He and his mother and sister have just moved here from New York following his parents' divorce. With his black hair and brown skin, it's hard enough already without the flamboyant antics of his friendly, nutty aunt, visiting from the Dominican Republic. But even while she is dancing her merengues in front of his new friends and painting the white farmhouse purple, Tia Lola is also weaving a magical spell of love and support that Miguel and his wounded family sorely need. Miguel's growing appreciation for his crazy aunt's ways, and the entire town's admiration and respect for an outsider who, without even speaking the same language, wins the hearts of all, is a funny, uplifting story.

Julia Alvarez is the author of many award-winning novels, including How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents and In the Time of the Butterflies, and the picture book The Secret Footprints. She writes with a warmth and humor that crosses all boundaries. (Ages 9 to 12) --Emilie Coulter --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Alvarez (The Secret Footprints; How the Garc¡a Girls Lost Their Accents) creates a story that is alternately affecting and treacly, starring nine-year-old Miguel (who soon turns 10) and his younger sister, Juanita, as they attempt to adjust after their move from New York City to Vermont. T¡a Lola, their vivacious aunt, comes to visit from the Dominican Republic to help out their newly divorced mother. With her brightly patterned dresses and constantly shifting beauty mark, T¡a Lola is portrayed as both wise and childlike as she schemes to make everyone jolly. Miguel struggles with his parents' divorce and with schoolmates who can't pronounce his name and assume he will be a standout baseball player because of his roots. T¡a Lola, as surrogate parent, fixes everything with a "magic" touch that inspires great food, celebrations and gift giving. Alvarez carefully translates Lola's Spanish until near the end when, after first refusing to speak English and then speaking in whole borrowed phrases, she becomes quite adept at the second language. She cleverly names Miguel's baseball team, Charlie's Boys (after the disgruntled landlord, Colonel Charlebois), and then tells a perfectly constructed story in English. As likable as T¡a Lola is, some readers may have trouble believing her quick transformation. In addition, Miguel's long-distance father appears more involved in the boy's life than his own mother (with whom Miguel lives); the mother's character is never fully developed. Ages 9-12.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Library Binding: 160 pages
• Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers; 1st edition (March 13, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375902155
• ISBN-13: 978-0375902154
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,221,838 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Julia Alvarez has bridged the Americas many times. Born in New York and raised in the Dominican Republic, she is a poet, fiction writer, and essayist, author of world-renowned books in each of the genres, including How the García Girls Lost their Accents, In the Time of the Butterflies, and Something to Declare. She lives on a farmstead outside Middlebury, Vermont, with her husband Bill Eichner. Visit Julia's Web site here to find out more about her writing.

Julia and Bill own an organic coffee farm called Alta Gracia in her native country of the Dominican Republic. Their specialty coffee is grown high in the mountains on what was once depleted pastureland. Not only do they grow coffee at Alta Gracia, but they also work to bring social, environmental, spiritual, and political change for the families who work on their farm. They use the traditional methods of shad-grown coffee farming in order to protect the environment, they pay their farmers a fair and living wage, and they have a school on their farm where children and adults learn to read and write. For more information about Alta Gracia, visit their website.

Belkis Ramírez, who created the woodcuts for A Cafecito Story, is one of the most celebrated artists in the Dominican Republic.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Tia Lola warms Vermont, March 4, 2003

By 

"red9243" (Berea, KY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How Tia Lola Came to (Visit) Stay (The Tia Lola Stories) (Paperback)

How Tia Lola Came to Stay is a delightful story about a 10-year old boy going through major changes in his life and how he learns to deal with these changes. Miguel has moved to a small town in Vermont from New York City because his parents are getting a divorce. His mother has a new job as a counselor at a college, and Miguel and his little sister, Juanita, have to start a new life with her. It is hard for Miguel to be the only Latino in his class and he misses his father. He tries not to say too much about his feelings, as he doesn't want to upset his mother. Even so, he is not thrilled when she tells him that her aunt, Tia Lola, is coming from the Dominican Republic to help take care of them while they get settled. She doesn't speak English and Miguel and Juanita only speak a little Spanish. Tia Lola arrives like a burst of sunshine on a cold, gray Vermont day. She brings good food, love, laughter, and a spice for life. She is not worried about fitting in and everyone loves her, though Miguel cannot help but be embarrassed by her at first. Through her colorful approach to life she helps Miguel and his family figure out how to cope with all the changes in their lives and comes up with a plan to help Miguel make friends.
How Tia Lola Came to Stay touches on subjects that are relevant to children today. Divorce, moving, family dynamics, learning to fit in are topics with which many children have to deal. Julia Alvarez does a nice job of sprinkling the dialogue with Spanish words and finding authentic reasons to translate them in the text. Tia Lola's joyful way of living life comes through in the situations and language Alvarez uses. Miguel's maturation through the book is gradual and believable as he works through his feelings about what has happened to his family. All in all this book is a good read.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very much enjoyed this story!, May 15, 2003

By 

Jaina Solo "[e-mail]" (Not Telling, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How Tia Lola Came to (Visit) Stay (The Tia Lola Stories) (Paperback)

I just read and enjoyed this book in one sitting and had to sign on to comment. At first, I was a little unsure if I would like it (the present tense third person was a surprise), but after only a paragraph or so, I was hooked. I won't try to sum up the story (you can read the description for yourself) but only say that Alvarez was spot-on in her descriptions of how it feels to be the child of divorce, how it feels to be Latino, etc. I would also recommend this book to middle-grade boys who like baseball and those readers who don't like an extreme conflict (there are problems for the main character here, but Tia Lola takes care of many of them, and the effect is comforting).

I think it's unfortunate that a reviewer gave this one star on the basis that the book did not live up to the author's other adult works. I read many many children's books (and try to write them myself) and giving this book one star is simply unfair. I have not read Alvarez' other works (I probably will go seek them out after this!), but if they're THAT much better than this book, then they must be outstanding!

Overall, a sweet and charming read that made me wish I had a Tia Lola too!

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tia Lola Comes Alive, December 11, 2001

By 

Alexandra Munroe (Portsmouth, NH, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How Tia Lola Came to (Visit) Stay (The Tia Lola Stories) (Hardcover)

I borrowed this book from the library to read to my seven year old for cultural reasons. We were chuckling by Chapter 2 and rolling with laughter by Chapter 4. By the time we finished it, I had ordered two copies, one for me as teach and parent, the other as a Christmas gift for an 11 year old.

The book deals with divorce, moving from city to country, younger siblings, being culturally and ethnically different with tears, frustration and laughter.

What impressed me most was the author's ability to paint vibrant pictures in our minds. I taught five week Literacy Workshop unit to 2nd graders (just as appropriate for older students) introducing "mind pictures" or visual images that an excellent author creates with words. The students writing, and awareness in reading, changed dramatically using this book. It was universally loved by the class.