Bibliographic data
Alvarez, Julia. How Tia Lola Came to (Visit) Stay. New York: Yearling, 2002. ISBN 0375802150
Brief plot summary
Ten year-old Miguel and his mother and sister just moved to Vermont from New York. His parents divorced and his Aunt Lola comes to visit them in Vermont from the Dominican Republic. Tia Lola doesn’t speak English and the children do not speak Spanish very well. Despite the language barrier, the children and their colorful Aunt Lola learn a lot from each other.
Critical analysis
Julia Alvarez does a great job of incorporating the Spanish/Dominican culture and language with the English/U.S. culture and language. This book, along with many of her other books, is an excellent introduction to cross-culturalism. This book contains difficult situations. First, the children’s parents divorce. Secondly, the mother moves the children to a different state and they have to adjust to a different school, town, and friends. These are issues that any race has to deal with sometimes. However, the difficulties of language and culture barriers surpass expectations in this book. Upon seeing Tia Lola, Miguel fears all of distinctions that make him different from the other children at school. Tia Lola is very eccentric and this makes it difficult for Miguel to embrace her at first.
Nevertheless, as found in many Hispanic communities, family plays an important role and Tia Lola and the children are able to work together in order to get past the difficult divorce of their parents, which is why their aunt came to visit them anyway.
Communication is where the children and Tia Lola first begin to have difficulty. In order for the children to go see their father in New York, Tia Lola must learn some English. She also asks that the children learn some Spanish in return. It is quite humorous to read about their escapades in this process.
Alvarez uses Spanish words and terms throughout the novel and most of the time those Spanish words are defined in English. However, I found in reading the novel that not all Spanish terms were defined in English. There were a few instances when I had to use my own background in Spanish classes to figure out what that word had meant.
Alvarez included a page in her novel entitled, “A Word About the Spanish” for readers not fluent in the Spanish language. She provides readers with a synopsis on the different Spanish dialects and pronunciations. Her Spanish language stems from Dominican Republic Spanish, which combines words into one word and their s’s are swallowed. This gives readers a sense of culture as well. It is a great addition to the novel.
Review excerpt
School Library Journal
Readers will enjoy the funny situations, identify with the developing relationships and conflicting feelings of the characters, and will get a spicy taste of Caribbean culture in the bargain.
Booklist
Alvarez's first book for young readers sometimes reads like a docu-novel, but the warmth of the individual characters and the simple music of the narrative will appeal to middle-graders. So will the play with language. Tia Lola teaches Miguel and Juanita Spanish as she talks, so the English translation is right there in the text. They teach her English, which she practices on everyone in town with hilarious effect.
Connections
Read more of Julia Alvarez’s books:
· In the Time of Butterflies
· How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents
· Before We Were Free
Alvarez, Julia. How Tia Lola Came to (Visit) Stay. New York: Yearling, 2002. ISBN 0375802150
Brief plot summary
Ten year-old Miguel and his mother and sister just moved to Vermont from New York. His parents divorced and his Aunt Lola comes to visit them in Vermont from the Dominican Republic. Tia Lola doesn’t speak English and the children do not speak Spanish very well. Despite the language barrier, the children and their colorful Aunt Lola learn a lot from each other.
Critical analysis
Julia Alvarez does a great job of incorporating the Spanish/Dominican culture and language with the English/U.S. culture and language. This book, along with many of her other books, is an excellent introduction to cross-culturalism. This book contains difficult situations. First, the children’s parents divorce. Secondly, the mother moves the children to a different state and they have to adjust to a different school, town, and friends. These are issues that any race has to deal with sometimes. However, the difficulties of language and culture barriers surpass expectations in this book. Upon seeing Tia Lola, Miguel fears all of distinctions that make him different from the other children at school. Tia Lola is very eccentric and this makes it difficult for Miguel to embrace her at first.
Nevertheless, as found in many Hispanic communities, family plays an important role and Tia Lola and the children are able to work together in order to get past the difficult divorce of their parents, which is why their aunt came to visit them anyway.
Communication is where the children and Tia Lola first begin to have difficulty. In order for the children to go see their father in New York, Tia Lola must learn some English. She also asks that the children learn some Spanish in return. It is quite humorous to read about their escapades in this process.
Alvarez uses Spanish words and terms throughout the novel and most of the time those Spanish words are defined in English. However, I found in reading the novel that not all Spanish terms were defined in English. There were a few instances when I had to use my own background in Spanish classes to figure out what that word had meant.
Alvarez included a page in her novel entitled, “A Word About the Spanish” for readers not fluent in the Spanish language. She provides readers with a synopsis on the different Spanish dialects and pronunciations. Her Spanish language stems from Dominican Republic Spanish, which combines words into one word and their s’s are swallowed. This gives readers a sense of culture as well. It is a great addition to the novel.
Review excerpt
School Library Journal
Readers will enjoy the funny situations, identify with the developing relationships and conflicting feelings of the characters, and will get a spicy taste of Caribbean culture in the bargain.
Booklist
Alvarez's first book for young readers sometimes reads like a docu-novel, but the warmth of the individual characters and the simple music of the narrative will appeal to middle-graders. So will the play with language. Tia Lola teaches Miguel and Juanita Spanish as she talks, so the English translation is right there in the text. They teach her English, which she practices on everyone in town with hilarious effect.
Connections
Read more of Julia Alvarez’s books:
· In the Time of Butterflies
· How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents
· Before We Were Free
Talk about the Spanish words in the book and discuss what the definitions of those terms are. Use this as a way to build a child’s Spanish vocabulary.
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