How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781606868386)

The Garc as Dr. Carlos (Papi), his wife Laura (Mami), and their four daughters, Carla, Sandra, Yolanda, and Sof a belong to the uppermost echelon of Spanish Caribbean society, descended from the conquistadores. Their family compound adjoins the "palacio" of the dictator 's daughter. So when Dr. Garc a 's part in a coup attempt is discovered, the family must flee.
They arrive in New York City in 1960 to a life far removed from their existence in the Dominican Republic. Papi has to find new patients in the Bronx. Mami, far from the compound and the family retainers, must find herself. Meanwhile, the girls try to "lose" themselves by forgetting their Spanish, by straightening their hair and wearing fringed bell bottoms. For them, it is at once liberating and excruciating being caught between the old world and the new, trying to live up to their father 's version of honor while accommodating the expectations of their American boyfriends. Acclaimed writer Julia Alvarez 's brilliant and buoyant first novel sets the Garc a girls free to tell their most intimate stories about how they came to be at home and not at home in America.

Author: Julia Alvarez
ISBN-10: 1606868381
ISBN-13: 9781606868386
Publisher: Turtleback Books
Language: English
Published: 01/01/2010
Pages: 311
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 0.57lbs
Size: 8.03h x 5.28w x 0.94d

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 6.2
Point Value: 13
Interest Level: Upper Grade
Quiz #/Name: 21597 / How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents