Julia Alvarez

"Alma Cruz ha decidido ponerle punto final a su carrera de escritora, pero teme acabar como su amiga, una exitosa novelista arrastrada a la locura por un libro que jam̀s termin̤ de escribir. Por eso, cuando hereda un modesto terreno en Rep͠blica Dominicana, se le ocurre sepultar all̕ sus decenas de manuscritos inconclusos. Quiere que descansen en paz en la misma tierra donde yacen sus ra̕ces. Pero a diferencia de Alma, los protagonistas de sus...

In the 1960s, political tension forces the García family away from Santo Domingo and towards the Bronx. The sisters all hit their strides in America, adapting and thriving despite cultural differences, language barriers, and prejudice. But Mami and Papi are more traditional, and they have far more difficulty adjusting to their new country. Making matters worse, the girls--frequently embarrassed by their parents--find ways to rebel against them.

Milly es una adolescente estadounidense comun y corriente hasta que un estudiante nuevo llamado Pablo llega a su escuela secundaria. Milly enfrenta su identidad de ni~na adoptada del pais natal de Pablo, y decide emprender un viaje lleno de valentia de regreso a este pais. Fifteen-year-old Milly Kaufman is an average American teenager until Pablo, a new student at her school, inspires her to search for her birth family in his native country.

Author Julia Alvarez relates her adventures with her husband traveling to the wedding of one of their friends in Haiti in 2009 and revisiting his bride's family with him after the destructive 2010 earthquake. She also talks about how she originally met her young Haitian friend named Piti, eventually hiring him to work on her coffee plantation in the Dominican Republic and promising to attend his wedding. Dominican Republic, USA, 240pp.

An idealistic young woman falls for a rebel leader and takes on a murderous dictator. Today, November 25 is observed in many Latin American countries as the International Day Against Violence Towards Women. This is based on the story of the Mirabal sisters, whose deaths became the final blow to the regime of Leonidas Trujillo, who was assassinated six months later.