MILLY KAUFMAN IS an ordinary American teenager living in Vermont—until she meets Pablo, a new student at her high school. His exotic accent, strange fashion sense, and intense interest in Milly force her to confront her identity as an adopted child from Pablo’s native country. As their relationship grows, Milly decides to undertake a courageous journey to her homeland and along the way discovers the story of her birth is intertwined with the story of a country recovering from a brutal history. Beautifully written by reknowned author Julia Alvarez, Finding Miracles examines the emotional complexity of familial relationships and the miracles of everyday life.
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"As always, I love to read Julia Alvarez because the little aspects of DR remind of my childhood. The summers I spent at my grandmother's house in la capital. I heard so many stories of Trujillo and how my own family experienced the regime. Those thoughts have been brought back in a good way. "
— Rachael (4 out of 5 stars)
" this book was a disappointment. i LOVED julia alvaerz's books for adults (well, some of them...such as in the time of the butterflies, one of my all-time favorites). so i was curious about her move into young adult literature & picked up this book to see what there was to see. i don't remember it so well. something about the protaganist being a teenage girl with some issues with her family & feeling isolated & weird because she is latina in a majority white community (i think the book is set in vermont, where alvarez is now a teacher), etc. i guess as far as young adult literature goes, it's pretty solid, but not being the target audience, i wasn't really swept away. the book lacked a lot of the historical drama of some of alvarez's other books, & the teenage voice tends to grate on me. i'm a terrible person because i find people between the ages of eleven & 24 absolutely insufferable, as a general rule. even fictional ones. with a few notable exceptions. but not this protag. what i learned from this book is that i should devote myself to re-reading the alvarez books i already know i love & leave her YA stuff to actual young adults. "
— Ciara, 2/20/2014" Yet another YA novel I read for a class. Until reading other people's reviews I didn't know Alvarez wrote 'grown-up' books. I'll have to check them out. I liked this book well enough. It's definitely for a youth audience; and not likely to be enjoyed by boys. But as a girl myself, I liked the character development. And though of course she has to get the guy and live happily ever after in the end, it was nice to get a glimpse into some of the personal turmoils/deceptions that we all experience. "
— Katie, 2/9/2014" Complex without being too busy. I did think not naming Milly's birth country was unnecessarily distracting. "
— Wendy, 2/8/2014" This is a good book. There's a'lot emotion and drama put into it. It's about a girl named Milagros (Miracles in English). She was adopted and still wonders about her parents and where they are. Throughout the book she struggles to find out who her real mom was. I recommend this book to someone that enjoys drama. Also, to those who simply just enjoy books. "
— Edison, 2/5/2014" Way too contrived and girly, but the story of the unnamed country is quite interesting. "
— Stacy, 2/1/2014" Finding Miracles is the story of Milly, a high school student who is searching for her identity. She was adopted as a baby from an unnamed (but very compatible with the Dominican Republic) country. This was the first book I've read of Julia Alvarez, and I enjoyed how she tried to hit the middle ground between coming-of-age story and teen romance with a little bit of mystery thrown in. The characters were lively and likable, but I think I would have preferred a bit more gritty reality. By keeping Milly's country of origin anonymous, there's only a muted sense that bloody revolutions occur in countries not far from ours. The greatest conflict here is not the millions of lives affected by totalitarian states, but the embarrassment of not knowing who your biological parents were. On the other hand, I may be asking too much of a book that will doubtless be informative and thought-provoking for many young readers. "
— Ruben, 1/17/2014" Its an awesome story about a girl trying to find her true parents but she found more than that she fo rund her true self "
— Lupe, 1/2/2014" I am preparing for a Julia Alvarez literature circle and wanted something for the less enthusiastic readers. I read it in one day and found the story an interesting mix of teen angst, search for identity, and Dominican Republic history. "
— Joey, 12/31/2013" It was interesting to experience the perspective of another ethnicity and culture since I'm Korean. I had to read this for my school summer reading book. "
— Eseul, 12/29/2013" book club author "
— Kirsten, 12/3/2013" Beautifully written poignant account of the complexity of family and identity within the context of a coming of age novel. "
— Charlene, 10/25/2013" In the book, Finding Miracles, By Julia Alvarez is a book about finding the meaning of true family. The book takes place in a small town. when a new boy comes to her school and she finds out their from the same country, she decides to come out, and face "the box". "
— Jessica, 8/15/2013" This was a very cute story. And I felt a little of my own feelings in it. I am from the Philipines, but I have never been there, and I have none of their culture. I want to go there someday. "
— Fyre, 11/28/2012" Required reading .......going to die from boredom,hope she finds the miracle soon "
— Katie, 10/13/2012" Alvarez deliberately doesn't name the country Milly and Pablo are from, but the description of the dictatorship and the horrible things that happen are generally true for most dictatorships in Central and South America. I would have liked a specific country though. "
— Maggie, 6/16/2012" It was one of my favorite books in High School. I loved the story, its not only about finding one's self, amidst a dark past. But also, learning the culture that was incorporated in it. :) "
— Karina, 5/1/2012" SOOOO GOOD. Love the quirky style of writing. You have to read it! "
— Ruth, 4/21/2012" Readers will enjoy this beautiful coming of age story of a young girl's search for identidy. "
— Ruth, 11/18/2011" yes it's a young adult book, but it's totally lovely and historically very interesting. "
— Elizabeth, 10/9/2011" I just finished reading this teen novel in Spanish. It was a great coming of age girl story. "
— Angie, 7/7/2011" had me on edge the whole time. it was super entertaining and i could really connect with it :D "
— Kathy, 5/10/2011" Very readable. Very enjoyable. I like the story of rising above teen self-absorption to understand that life is much more difficult for young people in developing nations. "
— Terri, 5/9/2011" yes it's a young adult book, but it's totally lovely and historically very interesting. "
— Elizabeth, 2/9/2011" It was interesting to experience the perspective of another ethnicity and culture since I'm Korean. I had to read this for my school summer reading book. "
— Eseul, 12/1/2010" Beautiful story of a young girl who discovers and learns to embrace her Mexican heritage. "
— Claire, 5/19/2010" I liked this one alot. It was a book club book that I enjoyed. I recommend it. "
— Pamela, 5/5/2010" Alvarez deliberately doesn't name the country Milly and Pablo are from, but the description of the dictatorship and the horrible things that happen are generally true for most dictatorships in Central and South America. I would have liked a specific country though. "
— Maggie, 3/15/2010Julia Alvarez grew up in the Dominican Republic before immigrating to the United States at the age of ten. She now lives in Vermont, where she is a writer-in-residence at Middlebury College, Vermont.
Julia Álvarez vivió su infancia en República Dominicana hasta 1960, cuando emigró a los Estados Unidos. Luego de obtener sus títulos de pregrado y postgrado en literatura y creación literaria, enseñó poesía durante muchos años y publicó su primer libro de poemas, Homecoming, en 1984. Ha recibido becas del Fondo Nacional para las Artes y de la Fundación Ingram Merrill. De cómo las muchachas García perdieron el acento recibió el premio PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles en 1991, que se entrega a obras que presentan un punto de vista multicultural. En la actualidad, enseña literatura inglesa en Middlebury College.