New Releases by Julia Alvarez

Literary icon and great American novelist Julia Alvarez, bestselling author of In the Time of the Butterflies and How the García Girls Lost Their Accents, returns with a luminescent novel about storytelling that reads like an instant classic. “Only an alchemist as wise and sure as Alvarez could swirl the elements of folklore and the flavor of magical realism around her modern prose and make it all sing . . . Lively, joyous . . . often witty, occasionally somber and elegiac.” —Luis Alberto Urrea, The New York Times Book Review "Engaging and written in a playful, crystal-clear prose, this novel explores friendship, love, sisterhood, living between cultures, and how people can be haunted by the things they don’t finish . . . Entertaining . . . Heartwarming." —Gabino Iglesias, The Boston Globe **Named a Most Anticipated Book by the New York Times, Washington Post, Today.com, Goodreads, B&N Reads, Literary Hub, HipLatina, BookPage, BBC.com, Zibby Mag, and more** Alma Cruz, the celebrated writer at the heart of The Cemetery of Untold Stories, doesn’t want to end up like her friend, a novelist who fought so long and hard to finish a book that it threatened her sanity. So when Alma inherits a small plot of land in the Dominican Republic, her homeland, she has the beautiful idea of turning it into a place to bury her untold stories—literally. She creates a graveyard for the manuscript drafts and the characters whose lives she tried and failed to bring to life and who still haunt her. Alma wants her characters to rest in peace. But they have other ideas and soon begin to defy their author: they talk back to her and talk to one another behind her back, rewriting and revising themselves. Filomena, a local woman hired as the groundskeeper, becomes a sympathetic listener to the secret tales unspooled by Alma''s characters. Among them, Bienvenida, dictator Rafael Trujillo''s abandoned wife who was erased from the official history, and Manuel Cruz, a doctor who fought in the Dominican underground and escaped to the United States. The Cemetery of Untold Stories asks: Whose stories get to be told, and whose buried? Finally, Alma finds the meaning she and her characters yearn for in the everlasting vitality of stories. Julia Alvarez reminds us that the stories of our lives are never truly finished, even at the end.

La inigualable Julia Alvarez, autora de En el tiempo de las mariposas y De cómo las muchachas García perdieron el acento, regresa con una extraordinaria e íntima novela que nos recuerda que las historias de vida jamás están realmente acabadas. Ni siquiera cuando llega el final. **Uno de los libros más esperados del año según el New York Times, Washington Post, Today.com, Goodreads, Literary Hub, BookPage, BBC.com, and Zibby Mag** 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 jamás terminó de escribir. Por eso, cuando hereda un modesto terreno en República Dominicana, se le ocurre sepultar allí sus decenas de manuscritos inconclusos. Quiere que descansen en paz en la misma tierra donde yacen sus raíces. Pero a diferencia de Alma, los protagonistas de sus relatos aún tienen mucho por decir, y encuentran en Filomena, la reservada cuidadora del cementerio, una interlocutora empática y atenta. Al compartir sus historiasBienvenida, la exesposa olvidada del dictador Rafael Trujillo; Manuel Cruz, un médico exiliado durante el régimen, y la misma Filomena convertirán el cementerio en un lugar mágico.Un santuario donde quienes han sido silenciados hallarán el sentido que anhelan en la vitalidad imperecedera de los cuentos que aún quedan por contar. Y colorín colorado... —— Literary icon Julia Alvarez, bestselling author of In the Time of the Butterflies, shares an inventive and emotional novel about storytelling and her homeland—the Dominican Republic—that Kirkus Reviews calls a \"rich and moving saga\" and Shelf Awareness calls \"a lyrical thought-provoking meditation on truth, complicated family narratives, and the question of whose stories get told.\" **Named a Most Anticipated Book of the Year by the New York Times, Washington Post, Today.com, Goodreads, Literary Hub, BookPage, BBC.com, and Zibby Mag** Alma Cruz has decided to end her writing career, but she fears she''ll end up like her friend, a successful novelist driven to madness by a book she never finished writing. So when she inherits a modest plot of land in the Dominican Republic, she decides to bury her dozens of unfinished manuscripts there. She wants them to rest in peace in the same land where her roots are. But unlike Alma, the protagonists of her stories still have plenty to say, and they find in Filomena, the reserved caretaker of the cemetery, an empathetic and attentive interlocutor. By sharing their stories, Bienvenida, the forgotten ex-wife of dictator Rafael Trujillo; Manuel Cruz, a doctor exiled during the regime, and Filomena herself will turn the cemetery into a magical place, a sanctuary where those who have been silenced will find the meaning they yearn for in the imperishable vitality of the untold stories. Y colorín colorado...

Antonia, écrivaine et professeure de lettres récemment retraitée, vient de perdre son époux. Face au deuil et aux jours trop calmes, son quotidien se redessine dans un silence assourdissant. Même ses compagnons de toujours, les romans, peinent à l''aiguiller dans ce chemin difficile. C''est alors que la vie se rappelle à elle : l''une de ses trois soeurs disparait mystérieusement et une immigrée clandestine enceinte vient frapper à sa porte... Antonia va devoir regarder au-delà d''elle-même, au-delà des livres, pour revenir au monde et aider ceux qui l''entourent. Dans ce court roman sensible et inspiré, qui célèbre le pouvoir de la littérature et la force de l''action civique, Julia Alvarez dessine le portrait attachant d''une femme en pleine quête d''elle-même, qui va se trouver à travers les autres.

A collectible hardcover thirtieth-anniversary edition of Julia Alvarez''s modern Latinx classic that gives voice to four sisters as they grow up in two cultures, featuring a new foreword by New York Times bestselling, National Book Award–winning novelist Elizabeth Acevedo A Penguin Vitae Edition The García sisters—Carla, Sandra, Yolanda, and Sofía—and their family must flee their home in the Dominican Republic after the discovery of their father''s role in an attempt to overthrow the brutal dictator Rafael Trujillo. They arrive in New York City in 1960 to a life far removed from their existence in the Caribbean. In the wondrous but not always welcoming United States, their parents try to hold on to their old ways as the girls try to find new lives: by straightening their hair and wearing American fashions, and by forgetting their Spanish. For them, it is at once liberating and excruciating to be caught between the old world and the new. In Julia Alvarez''s beloved first novel, How the García Girls Lost Their Accents, the sisters tell their stories about being at home—and not at home—in America. Penguin Vitae—loosely translated as "Penguin of one''s life"—is a deluxe hardcover series from Penguin Classics celebrating a dynamic and diverse landscape of classic fiction and nonfiction from seventy-five years of classics publishing. Penguin Vitae provides readers with beautifully designed classics that have shaped the course of their lives, and welcomes new readers to discover these literary gifts of personal inspiration, intellectual engagement, and creative originality.

Already a Butterfly is a gentle picture book tale about self-soothing practices and self-confidence beliefs. With so much to do in so little time, Mari is constantly on the move, flitting from flower to flower, practicing her camouflage poses, and planning for migration. She’s the busiest butterfly around. But does being productive mean she is happy? Mari couldn’t say. The only way she feels like a butterfly is by acting like one. Little does Mari know, the secret to feeling like herself is simply to focus her breath, find her quiet place, and follow her instincts. With the guidance of a thoughtful flower bud, Mari soon learns to meditate and appreciate that she was a butterfly all along. Acclaimed author Julia Alvarez extolls the importance of mindfulness, reflection, and self-care for young children in this gratifying picture book, stunningly illustrated by award-winning artist Raúl Colón. Christy Ottaviano Books

From the internationally bestselling author of In the Time of the Butterflies and How the García Girls Lost Their Accents comes “a stunning work of art that reminds readers Alvarez is, and always has been, in a class of her own.” (Elizabeth Acevedo, National Book Award-winning author of the New York Times bestseller The Poet X) Don''t miss Alvarez’s new novel, The Cemetery of Untold Stories, available now! Antonia Vega, the immigrant writer at the center of Afterlife, has had the rug pulled out from under her. She has just retired from the college where she taught English when her beloved husband, Sam, suddenly dies. And then more jolts: her bighearted but unstable sister disappears, and Antonia returns home one evening to find a pregnant, undocumented teenager on her doorstep. Antonia has always sought direction in the literature she loves—lines from her favorite authors play in her head like a soundtrack—but now she finds that the world demands more of her than words. Afterlife is a compact, nimble, and sharply droll novel. Set in this political moment of tribalism and distrust, it asks: What do we owe those in crisis in our families, including—maybe especially—members of our human family? How do we live in a broken world without losing faith in one another or ourselves? And how do we stay true to those glorious souls we have lost? A Time Magazine Must-Read Book of 2020 A Most-Anticipated Book of the Year: O, The Oprah Magazine * The New York Times * The Washington Post *Vogue * Bustle * BuzzFeed * Ms. magazine * The Millions * Huffington Post * PopSugar * The Lily * Goodreads * Library Journal * LitHub * Electric Literature

La bellezza, la vivacità e l’indomabile fragilità delle quattro sorelle Mirabal, che avevano meritato il nome di “farfalle” nella resistenza clandestina, passate alla storia come le eroine della lotta di liberazione dominicana contro la terribile dittatura del generale Trujillo e ancora oggi ricordate in tutta l’America Latina nella “Giornata internazionale per l’eliminazione della violenza sulle donne”. Nate in una famiglia benestante e colta, le quattro ragazze rimasero sempre legate da un affetto complesso e profondo, nonostante le notevoli diversità d’indole e destino: la ribelle Minerva sceglie giovanissima di essere l’avvocato degli oppressi, Patria la devota arriva alla guerriglia per le vie imperscrutabili della fede religiosa, la frivola e romantica María Teresa s’impegna nella causa per amore, mentre Dedé, l’unica sopravvissuta e la meno incline all’impegno politico e alla rivolta, narrando molti anni dopo la loro polifonica storia, si riunisce finalmente e senza riserve alle sorelle.Dal romanzo è stato tratto un film con Salma Hayek nel ruolo di Minerva.

Bestselling novelist (How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents) and children''s (The Tia Lola Stories) author Julia Alvarez''s new picture book is a beautifully crafted poem for children that gently addresses the emotional side of death. The book asks, "When somebody dies, where do they go? / Do they go where the wind goes when it blows? ... Do they wink back at me when I wish on a star? Do they whisper, ''You''re perfect, just as you are''? ..." Illustrated by Vermont woodcut artist, Sabra Field, Where Do They Go? is a beautiful and comforting meditation on death, asking questions young readers might have about what happens to those they love after they die. A Spanish-language edition of the book, ¿Donde va a parar?, is available in paperback.

"Like all good stories, this one incorporates a lesson just subtle enough that readers will forget they''re being taught, but in the end will understand themselves, and others, a little better, regardless of the la lengua nativa - the mother tongue. Simple

“[A] beguiling memoir of family and culture.”—O, The Oprah Magazine In a story that travels beyond borders and between families, acclaimed Dominican novelist and poet Julia Alvarez reflects on the joys and burdens of love—for her parents, for her husband, and for a young Haitian boy known as Piti. In this intimate true account of a promise kept, Alvarez takes us on a journey into experiences that challenge our way of thinking about history and how it can be reimagined when people from two countries—traditional enemies and strangers—become friends. Julia Alvarez’s new novel, Afterlife, is available now.

En la oscuridad, el manto de la señora brillaba con cientos de estrellas. Sobre ella, las ramas habían tejido un techo adornado con cientos de soles pequeños. Las dotes narrativas de Julia Alvarez se encuentran en su plenitud cuando logra que la leyenda dominicana de la Altagracia cobre vida en este encantador libro ilustrado. Cuando se pierde la cosecha de aceitunas de su familia, María teme que tendrán que abandoner la finca situada en la nueva isla colonial. Entonces, una noche sueña con una bella y misteriosa señora velada por árboles cargados de sabrosas naranjas como aquéllas que sus padres solían comer en su tierra de Valencia, España. ¿Podrían estos “soles pequeños” salvar la finca? ¿Quién sería esa mágica mujer que se apareció en el sueño de María? Y, ¿logrará María volver a encontrarla para darle las gracias? Ilustrado de manera exquisita por Beatriz Vidal dentro de la tradición de los manuscritos iluminados, Un regalo de gracias es un libro cuyo mensaje sobre la importancia de dar gracias cautivará el corazón y la imaginación de niños y adultos.

Welcome to Tía Lola''s bed and breakfast! With the help of her niece and nephew and the three Sword Sisters, Tía Lola is opening the doors of Colonel Charlebois'' grand old Vermont house to visitors from all over. But Tía Lola and the children soon realize that running a B & B isn''t as easy they had initially thought—especially when it appears that someone is out to sabotage them! Will Tía Lola and the kids discover who''s behind the plot to make their B & B fail? And will Tía Lola''s family and friends be able to plan her a surprise birthday party in her own B & B without her finding out? With the release of this Yearling edition, all four Tía Lola Stories are now available in paperback.

Miguel Guzman isn''t exactly looking forward to the summer now that his mother has agreed to let the Sword family—a father, his three daughters, and their dog—live with them while they decide whether or not to move to Vermont. Little does Miguel know his aunt has something up her sleeve that just may make this the best summer ever. With her usual flair for creativity and fun, Tía Lola decides to start a summer camp for Miguel, his little sister, and the three Sword girls, complete with magical swords, nighttime treasure hunts, campfires, barbecues, and an end-of-summer surprise! Now available for the first time in Spanish, this warm and funny third book in the Tía Lola Stories is sure to delight a whole new audience and leave them looking for their own summer fun.

When three girls and their father visit for a week in the summer, it takes Tía Lola to make Miguel forget his unhappiness at the absence of any boys and embrace the adventures that ensue.

Moving to Vermont after his parents split, Miguel has plenty to worry about! Tia Lola, his quirky, \"carismatica,\" and maybe magical aunt makes his life even more unpredictable when she arrives from the Dominican Republic to help out his Mami.

Juanita and Miguel''s great aunt, Ta Lola, comes from the Dominican Republic to help take care of them after their parents divorce, and soon she is so involved in their small Vermont community that when her visa expires, the whole town turns out to support her.

Tia Lola is going back to school in this Spanish translation of How Tia Lola Learned to Teach! Tía Lola recibe la invitación para enseñar español en la escuela primaria de sus sobrinos, pero Miguel no está de acuerdo. Le ha costado mucho adaptarse a su nueva escuela en Vermont y, a pesar de las indudables buenas intenciones de tía Lola, él piensa que su presencia no hará sino emporar las cosas. Por otro lado, su hermana Juanita se muere de ganas de que sus compañeros conozcan a la tía, con sus coloridos vestidos. En cuestión de pocos días, la tía estara organizando una búsqueda del tesoro en español y una fiesta de carnaval en la escuela. ¿Querrá Miguel unirse a la diversión? ¿Podrá Juanita tener los pies y la mente en la tierra para guiar a sus compañeros hacia triunfo en la búsquda del tesoro?

Juanita and Miguel''s great aunt, Tia Lola, comes from the Dominican Republic to help take care of them after their parents divorce, and soon she is so involved in their small Vermont community that when her visa expires, the whole town turns out to s

Miguel Guzman isn''t exactly looking forward to the summer now that his mother has agreed to let the Sword family—a father, his three daughters, and their dog—live with them while they decide whether or not to move to Vermont. Little does Miguel know his aunt has something up her sleeve that just may make this the best summer ever. With her usual flair for creativity and fun, Tía Lola decides to start a summer camp for Miguel, his little sister, and the three Sword girls, complete with magical swords, nighttime treasure hunts, campfires, barbecues, and an end-of-summer surprise! The warm and funny third book in the Tía Lola Stories is sure to delight young readers and leave them looking forward to their own summer fun!

After their olive crop fails, Maria fears that her family will have to abandon their farm on the new island colony. Then, one night she dreams of a mysterious beautiful lady shrouded by trees with branches hung with hundreds of little suns. They are oranges like the ones Maria''s parents once ate in their homeland, Valencia, Spain. That very day Maria and her family plant the seeds that soon yield a magnificent orange grove and save the farm. But who was the mysterious lady who appeared in her dream and will Maria ever find her again?

75 Poems by the Author of How the García Girls Lost Their Accents and In the Time of the Butterflies The works of this award-winning poet and novelist are rich with the language and influences of two cultures: those of the Dominican Republic of her childhood and the America of her youth and adulthood. They have shaped her writing just as they have shaped her life. In these seventy-five autobiographical poems, Alvarez’s clear voice sings out in every line. Here, in the middle of her life, she looks back as a way of understanding and celebrating the woman she has become. Don''t miss Alvarez’s new novel, The Cemetery of Untold Stories, available now!

When three girls and their father visit for a week in the summer, it takes Tia Lola to make Miguel forget his unhappiness at the absence of any boys and embrace the adventures that ensue.

After Tyler''s father is injured in a tractor accident, his family is forced to hire migrant Mexican workers to help save their Vermont farm from foreclosure. Tyler isn’t sure what to make of these workers. Are they undocumented? And what about the three daughters, particularly Mari, the oldest, who is proud of her Mexican heritage but also increasingly connected her American life. Her family lives in constant fear of being discovered by the authorities and sent back to the poverty they left behind in Mexico. Can Tyler and Mari find a way to be friends despite their differences? In a novel full of hope, but no easy answers, Julia Alvarez weaves a beautiful and timely story that will stay with readers long after they finish it.

Celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2024, internationally bestselling author and literary icon Julia Alvarez''s In the Time of the Butterflies is "beautiful, heartbreaking and alive ... a lyrical work of historical fiction based on the story of the Mirabal sisters, revolutionary heroes who had opposed and fought against Trujillo." (Concepción de León, New York Times) Alvarez’s new novel, The Cemetery of Untold Stories, is coming April 2, 2024. Pre-order now! It is November 25, 1960, and three beautiful sisters have been found near their wrecked Jeep at the bottom of a 150-foot cliff on the north coast of the Dominican Republic. The official state newspaper reports their deaths as accidental. It does not mention that a fourth sister lives. Nor does it explain that the sisters were among the leading opponents of Gen. Rafael Leónidas Trujillo’s dictatorship. It doesn’t have to. Everybody knows of Las Mariposas—the Butterflies. In this extraordinary novel, the voices of all four sisters--Minerva, Patria, María Teresa, and the survivor, Dedé--speak across the decades to tell their own stories, from secret crushes to gunrunning, and to describe the everyday horrors of life under Trujillo’s rule. Through the art and magic of Julia Alvarez’s imagination, the martyred Butterflies live again in this novel of courage and love, and the human costs of political oppression. "Alvarez helped blaze the trail for Latina authors to break into the literary mainstream, with novels like In the Time of the Butterflies and How the García Girls Lost Their Accents winning praise from critics and gracing best-seller lists across the Americas."—Francisco Cantú, The New York Times Book Review "This Julia Alvarez classic is a must-read for anyone of Latinx descent." —Popsugar.com "A gorgeous and sensitive novel . . . A compelling story of courage, patriotism and familial devotion." —People "Shimmering . . . Valuable and necessary." —Los Angeles Times "A magnificent treasure for all cultures and all time.” —St. Petersburg Times "Alvarez does a remarkable job illustrating the ruinous effect the 30-year dictatorship had on the Dominican Republic and the very real human cost it entailed."—Cosmopolitan.com

From the international bestselling author of In the Time of the Butterflies and Afterlife, How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents is "poignant...powerful... Beautifully captures the threshold experience of the new immigrant, where the past is not yet a memory." (The New York Times Book Review) Julia Alvarez’s new novel, The Cemetery of Untold Stories, is coming April 2, 2024. Pre-order now! Acclaimed writer Julia Alvarez’s beloved first novel gives voice to four sisters as they grow up in two cultures. The García sisters—Carla, Sandra, Yolanda, and Sofía—and their family must flee their home in the Dominican Republic after their father’s role in an attempt to overthrow brutal dictator Rafael Trujillo is discovered. They arrive in New York City in 1960 to a life far removed from their existence in the Caribbean. In the wondrous but not always welcoming U.S.A., their parents try to hold on to their old ways as the girls try find new lives: by straightening their hair and wearing American fashions, and by forgetting their Spanish. For them, it is at once liberating and excruciating to be caught between the old world and the new. Here they tell their stories about being at home—and not at home—in America. "Alvarez helped blaze the trail for Latina authors to break into the literary mainstream, with novels like In the Time of the Butterflies and How the García Girls Lost Their Accents winning praise from critics and gracing best-seller lists across the Americas."—Francisco Cantú, The New York Times Book Review "A clear-eyed look at the insecurity and yearning for a sense of belonging that are a part of the immigrant experience . . . Movingly told." —The Washington Post Book World

After Tyler''s father is injured in a tractor accident, his family hires migrant Mexican workers to help save their Vermont farm from foreclosure. Tyler isn’ t sure what to make of these workers. Are they undocumented? And what about the three daughters, particularly Mari, the oldest, who is proud of her Mexican heritage but also increasingly connected her American life. Her family lives in constant fear of being discovered by the authorities and sent back to the poverty they left behind in Mexico. Can Tyler and Mari find a way to be friends despite their differences? In a novel full of hope, but no easy answers, Julia Alvarez weaves a beautiful and timely story that will stay with readers long after they finish it.

Renowned Latina author Julia Alvarez recreates the legend of Dominican folk character La Vieja Belen in this delighful bilingual rhyming story, beautifully illustrated by Dominican artist Ruddy Nuñez. Alvarez''s retelling keeps the magic of the traditional account while contributing a down-to-earth, timely moral: "Of all the gifts you can give, your time is the best."

Vieja Belen, a friendly and generous old woman who tirelessly works for the benefit of others, is surprised to play host to three wise men on their way to visit a king born of poor parents.

Autora del bestseller De cómo las muchachas García perdieron el acento y una finalista del Circulo Nacional de Críticos Literarios “Una exploración de un ritual exuberante y decisivo en la vida moderna de los latinos… Como autora de esta travesía, Julia Alvarez es una guía extraordinaria.”—The Seattle Times La fiesta de quince años de las muchachas latinas o “la quinceañera” como se le conoce en los Estados Unidos, se ha convertido en una tendencia singularmente americana. Esta espléndida fiesta de vestidos largos y elegantes, pasteles de varias capas, limusinas y banquetes extravagantes, a menudo es tan costosa como un baile de graduación o una boda. Sin embargo, muchas jóvenes latinas sienten que tienen derecho a esto rito de iniciación, que señala el momento en que se vuelven mujeres, y esperan que no se escatime ningún gasto, ni siquiera entre las familias de escasos recursos. La aclamada escritora Julia Alvarez explora la historia y la relevancia cultural de cumplir los “quince” años en los Estados Unidos, y usa este acontecimiento como un lente a través del cual examinar el proceso de cambio por el que está pasando la mujer latina en los EE.UU. Sus observaciones sobre una fiesta de quince años en Queens, así como entrevistas con otras quinceañeras y los recuerdos de su propia experiencia como inmigrante joven, componen un cuidadoso y entretenido retrato de un fenómeno multicultural en rápido crecimiento, así como una perspectiva única de un Estados Unidos multicultural. “[Alvarez] posa una mirada crítica sobre mitos que están muy arraigados…cada página es un canto de amor a los lazos culturales que vinculan a generaciones de mujeres provenientes de un grupo diversos de países.”—Chicago Sun-Times “Fascinante, ampliamente documentado.”—The Washington Post “La sinceridad con la que Alvarez hace frente a la experiencia de haber vivido entre dos culturas resulta cautivadora.”—Entertainment Weekly