Welcome to Litsy!

“Miguel remembers that his mother once told him that tía Lola is very sensitive about the subject of marriage.
‘Mami? Why didn‘t tía Lola ever get married?‘
A sad, wistful look comes over her face.
‘Remember how I told you my mother died when I was only three? Well, my mami had a younger sister... tía Lola. When mami died, tía Lola took care of me. Maybe tía Lola was too busy being my mother, to find a husband.‘”
Oof.

“On the other side of the counter stands their aunt Lola. You can‘t miss her: her skin is the same soft brown color as theirs; her black hair is piled up in a bun on her head, with a pink hibiscus on top; she wears bright red lipstick, and above her lips she has a big black beauty mark. On her colorful summer dress, parrots fly toward palm trees, and flowers look ready to burst from the fabric, if they can only figure out how.” 😍

“‘Why can‘t we just call her :aunt: Lola?‘ Miguel asks his mother.”
Oh I can already tell that this is going to be a gem 😍

I love Julia Alvarez so I picked up this middle grade novel. I think she's at her best writing for adults, but this book is cute. My kids loved Tía Lola and enjoyed the humor and heartwarming story.