Rating: 
Summary: I liked this book
Review: I thought this book was very interesting. The four sisters and their mami and papi move to America to escape the secret police. The girls try hard to fit in and have a hard time becoming accustomed to their new way of life.
I read this book for a book report in my history class. How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents was on the list of books to choose from, so i was a little suprised it had some sexual content in it.(its not a big deal, im just warning you)
Reading about the garcia girls' experiences was captivating since i will never have those experiences, i could not wait to read more. I learned a lot of things about Latin culture. I reccomend this book!
Rating: 
Summary: How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents
Review: How the Garcia Girls lost their accents by Julia Alvarez , is about a coming of age story of a family moving from one country to another. The Garcia girls face daily stuggles with being different. They move from Puerto Rico to the united States and face challenges.
A significant moment is when they leave their Island. The father has gotten into some trouble with the government and the family needs to leave. After a long process, they move to New York, where the girls face different bumps in the road by being different.
The author tended to be random, saying things about a girl who was an anorexic monkey, but talking about one of the girls.
We would not recommend this book to anyone. The way she uses her words and describes the character is not at all engaging. Quite frankly we found the book boring. All in all if you have a strange urge to read a book of randomness, then go to the library, but this book is really not worth your dollar.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful book that transcends differences between people
Review: I first read one of the short stories in this book, "Daughter of Invention," in an anthology called GROWING UP LATINO. I found the short story so humorous, touching and sensitive I wanted to read the book that it originally came from. What I admire about Julia Alvarez is her subtlety as a writer. I found myself chuckling to myself throughout the book, as well as learning more about her experience as a Dominicana told through the eyes of the four fictionalized daughters and the parents who raised them in a time of great political unrest. This was during the time of Trujillo, when their father got in trouble politically for attempting to overthrow his dictatorship. Hence, the reason for their exile to the Bronx, and the circular visits taken by the daughters returning from their schools in the U.S. back to the Dominican Republic. What I admire about this story (or series of short stories) that discuss and illustrate the challenge of assimilation, racism and identity, is that Julia Alvarez's characters are identifiable with anyone who had has to immigrate and assimilate to a new set of social expectations and assume a bicultural/biracial identity. I think specifically of all the different Latinos from all corners who immigrated here, fleeing social and political unrest, and other groups of people of color who came to this country seeking a better life for themselves and their families. I am also a great fan of Sandra Cisneros, the lively and biting Chicana writer based in Texas. I have to say that to compare Alvarez's work to Cisneros is impossible because the styles are so different. But, in all honesty, I found Alvarez less hard-edged and more accessible. I highly reccomend this novel as an introduction to a wonderful, vibrant and insightful Latina writer. I want to thank Julia Alvarez for sharing the experience of assimilation and adversity with us, her humble readers.
Rating: 
Summary: another great book
Review: i decided to read this book after reading julia alvarez's other book "in the time of the butterflies", which was really great. this book follows, or rather preceeds, since it was published earlier, in its footsteps. while at 1st the book seems to concentrate more on yolanda as opposed to the other sisters, towards the middle it begins to tell the other 3 sisters stories more. they each come into their own, with little excerpts of experiences from their childhood, coming to america, and back in the dominican republic. this book goes backwards, from the girl's adulthood to their childhood. there are some really charming and memorable parts in this book, and those alone make it a great read, however it ends rather abruptly, it seems as if there should be another chapter after the last one, but what can you expect for a book that goes backwards, it cant go on forever. theres also a sequel to this book called "yo" which i havent gotten to read yet so maybe some questions will be answered there. overall though this is a great read that sucks you in.
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