Recommended Reading

Quicklinks: Fiction by Julia Alvarez | Poetry by Julia Alvarez | Web Resources | For Young Readers

Works by Julia Alvarez

Fiction by Julia Alvarez

Before We Were Free
Knopf, 2004 (young adult)

A Cafecito Story
Chelsea Green, 2001

How Tia Lola Came to Visit Stay
Knopf, 2001 (young adult)

In the Name of Salomé
Algonquin Books, 2000

The Secret Footprints
Knopf, 2000 (picture book)

¡Yo!
Algonquin Books, 1996

How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents
Algonquin Books, 1991

Poetry by Julia Alvarez

The Woman I Kept to Myself
Algonquin Books, 2004

Cry Out: Poets Protest the War
G. Braziller, in cooperation with Northshire Bookstore, 2003

Seven Trees
Kat Ran Press, 1999

Something to Declare
Algonquin Books, 1998

Homecoming
Grove Press, 1984 (revised edition, Dutton, 1995)

The Other Side/El Otro Lado
Dutton, 1995

The Housekeeping Book
Burlington, 1984

Old Age Ain’t for Sissies
Editor
Crane Creek Press, 1979

Web Resources

Author Interviews

In the Name of the Homeland
2000
Atlantic Monthly interview with the author.

Interview with Julia Alvarez
(BookReporter.com)
While the focus of this interview is In the Name of Salomé, some of the questions are more general, including discussion of a multicultural canon and Alvarez’s influences.

Something to Declare
By Dwight Garner
2000
A salon.com interview in which Alvarez “talks about moving to America, her relationship with her family and the rituals that keep her a focused writer.”

History

The Mirabal Sisters
This site offers information about the childhood, political participation and assassination of the Mirabal sisters. It is available in English and Spanish.

Dominican Republic
(Portals to the World)
This Library of Congress site offers numerous links to information about the Dominican Republic. Topics include culture, education, health and philosophy.

Dominican Republic: Country Study
Edited by Richard Haggerty
1989
This site offers a comprehensive description and analysis of the historical setting, geography, society, economy, political system and foreign policy of the Dominican Republic. It Includes a section on the Trujillo era.

General Resources

Hispanic Heritage Biographies—Julia Alvarez
This site discusses the author’s life and works.

In the Time of the Butterflies Reading Guide
(Penguin)
This reader’s guide provides a brief introduction to the book, author biography, interview with the author and a list of discussion questions.

Julia Alvarez: Official Author Website
2003
Full of resources written by Alvarez, including the author’s vita, a thorough list of publications including foreign language editions, the author’s comments on some of her books, an extensive list of interviews and articles, including those in Spanish.

Not a Minute More: A Call to End Violence Against Women
(United Nations Development Fund for Women)
In 1999, the United Nations General Assembly declared November 25 the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. This date was selected because it is the date that the Mirabal sisters were assassinated for their political activism. This site provides additional information about the issue of violence against women.

For Kids and Teens

Before We Were Free
By Julia Alvarez
Knopf, 2002 (Ages 12 and up)
Life in the 1960s Dominican Republic is difficult for the family of 12-year-old Anita as they suffer under Trujillo’s dictatorship but at the same time rely on their strength and determination to persevere in their belief in freedom.

Colibrí
By Ann Cameron
Frances Foster Books, 2003 (Ages 10-14)
Rosa Garcia, a Mayan girl, searches for her identity and an honest life filled with security and love. She struggles to find courage to escape from her “uncle,” who supposedly rescued her from abandonment as a young child.

The Color of My Words
By Lynn Joseph
Joanna Cotler Books, 2000 (Ages 10-13)
This stunning family story tells of 12-year-old Ana Rosa Hèrnandez’s passion to be a writer at a time in the Dominican Republic when only government officials were allowed to be authors.

The Dominican Republic: Enchantment of the World
By Lura Rogers and Barbara Radcliffe Rogers
Children’s Press, 1999 (Ages 8 and up)
Just open this book to take a tour of the beauty, history and culture of this vibrant Caribbean country.

Finding Miracles
By Julia Alvarez
Knopf, 2004 (Ages 12 and up)
Milly’s high school life is changed forever, and for the better, when Pablo arrives from a troubled country that is also part of her own history.

Finding Our Way: Stories
By René Saldaña
Wendy Lamb Books, 2003 (Ages 12 and up)
Eleven short stories depict everyday life and universal adolescent experiences, told in first- and third-person narratives, about Hispanic teenagers in the southwest United States.

How Tía Lola Came to Visit Stay
By Julia Alvarez
Knopf, 2001 (Ages 8-11)
Flamboyant Tía Lola is just the right remedy for a family coping with divorce.

The Magic Shell
By Nicholasa Mohr, illustrated by Rudy Gutierrez
Scholastic, 1995 (Ages 9-12)
Jaime’s new life in the United States is made easier by a gift that helps him remember special times with his family and friends in the Dominican Republic.

The Secret Footprints
By Julia Alvarez, illustrated by Fabian Negrin
Knopf, 2000 (Ages 6-9)
Share this traditional Dominican folktale of the ciguapas, beautiful underwater creatures living where no human can discover them.

Selavi, That Is Life: A Haitian Story of Hope
By Youme Landowne
Cinco Puntos Press, 2004 (Ages 7-10)
The powerful story of how violence affects orphaned children in a war-torn nation is based on true events.