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Finding Miracles
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.
288 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 1, 2004
90 people are currently reading
953 people want to read
About the author
Julia Alvarez
83 books3,972 followersJulia Alvarez left the Dominican Republic for the United States in 1960 at the age of ten. She is the author of six novels, three books of nonfiction, three collections of poetry, and eleven books for children and young adults. She has taught and mentored writers in schools and communities across America and, until her retirement in 2016, was a writer-in-residence at Middlebury College. Her work has garnered wide recognition, including a Latina Leader Award in Literature from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, the Hispanic Heritage Award in Literature, the Woman of the Year by Latina magazine, and inclusion in the New York Public Library’s program “The Hand of the Poet: Original Manuscripts by 100 Masters, from John Donne to Julia Alvarez.” In the Time of the Butterflies, with over one million copies in print, was selected by the National Endowment for the Arts for its national Big Read program, and in 2013 President Obama awarded Alvarez the National Medal of Arts in recognition of her extraordinary storytelling.
Photo copyright by Brandon Cruz González
EL VOCERO DE PUERTO RICO
Photo copyright by Brandon Cruz González
EL VOCERO DE PUERTO RICO
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 154 reviews
April 28, 2017
DNF at somewhere around the halfway mark? I honestly can't be bothered to look it up and see what chapter I got to, and that tells you a lot about my interest right there.
So this was a buddy-read with my gal TL, my very first Goodreads one! And we both ended up DNFing lol! Great minds abandon books alike, huh?
Anyway, it started out fine, the descended into boredom. And I realized that I just didn't care. I didn't want to pick it back up and I didn't care what happened. I don't even feel like skimming. That was the death blow for me.
Oh well. Onwards to better books!
January 13, 2023
The incredibly charming journey of a girl who was adopted and reared in the US, who confronts her uneasiness and worries around her unidentified origins. Unfortunately, I didn't really enjoy this book.
Actually, this book does a fantastic job of addressing the tension that many adoptees experience when they learn about their birth families and the effects that has on their adopted family. However, the work seemed to lose steam when Millie, our MC, traveled to the foreign state. It seemed forced to me and like it dragged.
Being, ultimately, a story about identity, I felt that it eliminated a key component of the main character's sense of self. I think the author may have chosen not to reveal Millie's true origins in order to make the story more global and symbolic of the many countries suffering under dictatorships. And as a reader, I personally didn't really sense the historical connection.
The characters were alright. Along with the main plot, the book also has a charming love story that I found to be enlivening and that blended in admirably with the personalities of the characters. The prose is brilliantly done, highlighting a lovely illustration of familial and cultural discovery. I still think this book did a good job.
Altogether, I wouldn't say this book is as horrible as I could have thought, but I'm not the intended audience, and I think many readers will appreciate it more than I do. It depends on your preferences.
Actually, this book does a fantastic job of addressing the tension that many adoptees experience when they learn about their birth families and the effects that has on their adopted family. However, the work seemed to lose steam when Millie, our MC, traveled to the foreign state. It seemed forced to me and like it dragged.
Being, ultimately, a story about identity, I felt that it eliminated a key component of the main character's sense of self. I think the author may have chosen not to reveal Millie's true origins in order to make the story more global and symbolic of the many countries suffering under dictatorships. And as a reader, I personally didn't really sense the historical connection.
The characters were alright. Along with the main plot, the book also has a charming love story that I found to be enlivening and that blended in admirably with the personalities of the characters. The prose is brilliantly done, highlighting a lovely illustration of familial and cultural discovery. I still think this book did a good job.
Altogether, I wouldn't say this book is as horrible as I could have thought, but I'm not the intended audience, and I think many readers will appreciate it more than I do. It depends on your preferences.
November 18, 2012
I liked the first part of this book a whole lot more than I ended up liking the second half. The beginning was strong and I really liked the way that Millie's character was developed, along with the whole mystery aspect of who her parents are. I liked how Pablo came into her life and I enjoyed speculating as to what would happen next. But then when Millie went to the Dominican Republic the whole novel seemed to lose momentum. I felt like it dragged and it seemed forced that she was suddenly SO into her culture. Maybe this really is how I would feel if this happened to me but I had a hard time accepting her character as the novel went on. At first I thought this would be one of my new favorites but after listening to the entire thing, I am not so in love with it.
August 27, 2023
Despite reading some absolute tomes earlier on, this book is one of my bigger accomplishments this year. Had to renew it 4 times from the library because it took so long, but I’m proud to say I finished it. I will research the difficulty level of the book much more diligently next time I want to read a book in Spanish 😅 I really enjoyed the book though. Kept me interested and entertained the whole time.
March 31, 2017
"Finding Miracles" is a book about a 15 years old teenager girl that was adopted from Latin America trying to find herself. Milly Milagros Kaufman has two identities. She is Milly, a girl that has been living in Vermont for most of her life with her adoptive parents. She is also Milagros an abandoned orphan that was rescued when she was a baby from Latin America. Milly avoids discussing about her past with others, until she meets Pablo. Pablo is a refugee that comes from the same country that Milly was adopted from. As Milly listens to Pablo stories about his country she becomes more interested on finding more about her home town. Will Milly brake the barrier that is keeping her from finding out about her origins? Find out by reading this book.
Even tough I didn't quite like this book because I don't usually read this genre of books, there were some parts that I liked. My favorite part of the book was toward the end, when Milagros tells her parents about how she wasn't looking for her parents but she wanted to fill a blank of her life that she did not know about. If you like mysterious adventures I recommend this book to you .
Even tough I didn't quite like this book because I don't usually read this genre of books, there were some parts that I liked. My favorite part of the book was toward the end, when Milagros tells her parents about how she wasn't looking for her parents but she wanted to fill a blank of her life that she did not know about. If you like mysterious adventures I recommend this book to you .
June 8, 2021
Mildred Milagros Kaufman was born in the little country and left at the door of an orphanage, small, sickly, and with nothing aside from a beautiful mahogany box and a slip of paper that reads MILAGROS. After being adopted by her Jewish father and Mormon mother, both Peace Corps volunteers, Milly, as she is known, grows up in Vermont choosing to forget about the country of her birth. One day Pablo, a refugee from the little country, arrives in her school, and suddenly Milly can't, and maybe doesn't want to, ignore her connection to her place of birth. Will her interest break the family she loves? Add to that her fears around what she will learn about her past in a country fresh out of a revolution to remove a dictator, and Milly has a lot to deal with.
This novel does a good job of exploring the conflict that many adoptees feel around learning about their birth families and the impact of that on their adoptive family. Adding the layer of culture to this piece is also managed deftly in Alvarez's skilled hands. The characters are believable and relatable. The reason that I could not give this book five stars is twofold. First, Alvarez chose to root the story in an unknown little country. The reader knows that it is a Spanish speaking country, likely in Latin America, and since much of Alvarez's work reflects her connection to the Dominican Republic, my mind kept going there. But to be clear, Alvarez never mentions the country by name. I went back and forth about whether or not I liked this choice of hers, and, ultimately, it bothers me. I believe that she chose that path so that the story was more universal and representative of the many countries living under dictatorships, but being, ultimately, a story of identity, I felt that it removed an important aspect of the main characters sense of self. Second, the ending was wrapped up so neatly and beautifully that It felt like much of the work Alvarez had done throughout the novel to make things feel real was undone. I am not saying that an ending with happiness is an issue, but, rather, an ending where everything is better and everyone is happy.
While I have these criticisms, I still feel that this book is high quality and worthy of a space in classrooms. I listened to the audio book and the reading was beautifully done. The narrator was not only able to capture Milly's voice, but was, in sections of dialogue, able to vary the voices of other characters in a way that immerses the listener in the story.
This novel does a good job of exploring the conflict that many adoptees feel around learning about their birth families and the impact of that on their adoptive family. Adding the layer of culture to this piece is also managed deftly in Alvarez's skilled hands. The characters are believable and relatable. The reason that I could not give this book five stars is twofold. First, Alvarez chose to root the story in an unknown little country. The reader knows that it is a Spanish speaking country, likely in Latin America, and since much of Alvarez's work reflects her connection to the Dominican Republic, my mind kept going there. But to be clear, Alvarez never mentions the country by name. I went back and forth about whether or not I liked this choice of hers, and, ultimately, it bothers me. I believe that she chose that path so that the story was more universal and representative of the many countries living under dictatorships, but being, ultimately, a story of identity, I felt that it removed an important aspect of the main characters sense of self. Second, the ending was wrapped up so neatly and beautifully that It felt like much of the work Alvarez had done throughout the novel to make things feel real was undone. I am not saying that an ending with happiness is an issue, but, rather, an ending where everything is better and everyone is happy.
While I have these criticisms, I still feel that this book is high quality and worthy of a space in classrooms. I listened to the audio book and the reading was beautifully done. The narrator was not only able to capture Milly's voice, but was, in sections of dialogue, able to vary the voices of other characters in a way that immerses the listener in the story.
dnf
April 12, 2017Buddyread with Ellen :)
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DNF, couldn't get into it:( The MC annoyed me, plus the print in the book was starting to bother me
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DNF, couldn't get into it:( The MC annoyed me, plus the print in the book was starting to bother me
December 26, 2019
A lovely book which deserves more attention than it has received. Best for MS-HS students. Recommended.
May 14, 2020
I always love Julia Alvarez's books. This is an older one that I somehow missed. It took me a bit to feel hooked, but ultimately the story is compelling and heartfelt. An adopted teenager in Vermont returns to the island nation of her birth to discover her whole self.
October 15, 2010
"Finding Miracles" is a beautifully told coming-of-age story about a 15-year old girl named Mily (Milagros, which is Spanish for "Miracles") who gains an understanding and acceptance of her cultural roots. At first, Mily keeps her identity as an adoptive child from another country a closely guarded secret. But when a boy named Pablo moves to her school, moving from the same country that her adoptive parents found her, she feels a strange sense of attraction and repulsion to him. Nonetheless, getting to know Pablo has her questioning the origin of her roots and upending doubts that have stood within her for a long time. I thought Julia Alvarez's approach to Mily was well done, not only taking a personal perspective of how Mily voices her fears and concerns, but also describing the journey she takes to confront her past.
The first part of the book details how Mily comes to terms with sharing the fact that she's adopted and how she comes to know Pablo. The second part focuses on the journey that she takes to the country while visiting with Pablo. She finds out much about who her parents might've been, and how fortunate she is to live the life she has. There's also a sweet love story that's intertwined within the story, which I thought was refreshing and worked very well with the character chemistries.
"Finding Miracles" caught my attention and held it with respect to its luminous prose, memorable characters, and intriguing subject matter. I would definitely recommend it for young adults who love coming of age stories and want a novel that illustrates a beautiful example of cultural and familial exploration.
Overall score: 4/5
The first part of the book details how Mily comes to terms with sharing the fact that she's adopted and how she comes to know Pablo. The second part focuses on the journey that she takes to the country while visiting with Pablo. She finds out much about who her parents might've been, and how fortunate she is to live the life she has. There's also a sweet love story that's intertwined within the story, which I thought was refreshing and worked very well with the character chemistries.
"Finding Miracles" caught my attention and held it with respect to its luminous prose, memorable characters, and intriguing subject matter. I would definitely recommend it for young adults who love coming of age stories and want a novel that illustrates a beautiful example of cultural and familial exploration.
Overall score: 4/5
July 25, 2009
Finding Miracles, by Julia Alvarez is a book about a girl named Milly or Milagros. Mlagros is around 15 years old. She was born in Los Luceros in Dominican Republic. She is adopted. Her main internal struggle is that she doesn't really know who she really is. Her main external struggle is that she is adopted.
During my time reading this book I made a text-to-self connection. There was this part in the book when Milagros goes to Los Luceros and she feels connected to it. That reminds me of myself when I hear stories from the Dominican Republic I feel so connected to it. We both learn that it's good to be connected to a place your family comes from.
I would give this book 5 stars. I really liked how the book was written. It alls fits in toghter perfectly. I also like how the book flows. I would recommend this book to someone who likes Immagration books. Or to someone who likes books about friendship and family, and romance.
During my time reading this book I made a text-to-self connection. There was this part in the book when Milagros goes to Los Luceros and she feels connected to it. That reminds me of myself when I hear stories from the Dominican Republic I feel so connected to it. We both learn that it's good to be connected to a place your family comes from.
I would give this book 5 stars. I really liked how the book was written. It alls fits in toghter perfectly. I also like how the book flows. I would recommend this book to someone who likes Immagration books. Or to someone who likes books about friendship and family, and romance.
February 12, 2010
The really sweet journey of a girl who was adopted and raised in the US, who faces her discomfort and fears about her unknown origins. The tone was a little too juvenile for me; that's what I get for picking novels written for youth, though, this was a little too youthed-down for many young readers. It may have been caused by the authors over-zealous effort to avoid identifying Millie's country of origin. It was so clearly the Dominican Republic and would have been less distracting to just say so instead of trying to keep it generic-South American. This would be a great book to read out loud.
Read
March 17, 2022Perfect teen romance story with a multicultural element. The audiobook was easy to follow during my commute to a high school where I teach English. This story would be great for my English language learners!
September 12, 2008
An engaging young adult novel concerned with identity, personal and familial history, and where one fits with that. Magical realism for kids!
November 2, 2022
This book was so bad
Absolutely disgusting plus the cover. it's a No.
Absolutely disgusting plus the cover. it's a No.
May 29, 2018
Julia Alvarez’s FINDING MIRACLES is similar to many of her other books in a way that it is about the coming-of-age of a young Latina girl trying to find her own identity. Some of her other books include BEFORE WE WERE FREE, HOW THE GARCÍA GIRLS LOST THEIR ACCENTS, RETURN TO SENDER, ¡YO! and possibly her most famous and well-known, IN THE TIME OF THE BUTTERFLIES.
Julia Alvarez’s own story is connected to many of her books as she was born in New York City but moved to the Dominican Republic when she was young and back to New York when the Dominican Republic started to get to dangerous. She also has a project called Alta Gracia. She is also a writer in residence at Middlebury. She originally came out with FINDING MIRACLES in 2004 and is now coming out with it again.
FINDING MIRACLES circles around Mildred --- Milly ---- Kaufman, a young girl who was adopted by the Kaufmans and is originally from some unnamed Latin-American country. Aside from that fact, Milly is a typical American teenager in Vermont. She goes to her high school and hangs out with her best friend Em. She loves her family: her mom, her dad and her two siblings, Kate and Nate. Her family also includes her Grandma Happy, but that relationship is slightly more complicated.
Then Pablo comes into her typical American life. Pablo and his family fled from the same country where Milly was born. At first Milly wants nothing to do with Pablo, but as he becomes acquainted in her circle of friends, Milly and Pablo start to get to know each other and become friends quickly. However, as Milly starts to get to know Pablo more, she starts to know more about her birth country, and subsequently start to want to learn more about her birth family --- starting with who they were.
FINDING MIRACLES is amazing. From the first chapter, I was immediately hooked. This book has one of the most amazing starts to a novel, and the beautiful writing, the amazing scenes, the interesting people and the complex mystery of Milly does not stop there. Through the entire book, I was completely invested in the story and the people. Each person had his or her unique identity, and I almost wish that I could read a book from each person’s perspective. Many times, side characters do not feel fully fleshed out but Julia Alvarez takes careful detail with every character, and it makes FINDING MIRACLES all the more beautiful and real. FINDING MIRACLES by Julia Alvarez is absolutely beautiful from start to finish. This book is currently one of my favorite books I’ve read this year, and I have a feeling that FINDING MIRACLES will stay that high up throughout 2018.
If you are interested in books about coming-of-age, then pick up FINDING MIRACLES immediately! This book will not let you down. Also, if you’re interested in reading books with more people of color in the book or reading books written by people of color, this book is for you. Julia Alvarez represents her characters so well, probably by taking aspects from her own experiences. FINDING MIRACLES by Julia Alvarez is incredible, and I would suggest it to anyone who is looking for something good to read.
Reviewed by Rebecca D., Teen Board Member
Julia Alvarez’s own story is connected to many of her books as she was born in New York City but moved to the Dominican Republic when she was young and back to New York when the Dominican Republic started to get to dangerous. She also has a project called Alta Gracia. She is also a writer in residence at Middlebury. She originally came out with FINDING MIRACLES in 2004 and is now coming out with it again.
FINDING MIRACLES circles around Mildred --- Milly ---- Kaufman, a young girl who was adopted by the Kaufmans and is originally from some unnamed Latin-American country. Aside from that fact, Milly is a typical American teenager in Vermont. She goes to her high school and hangs out with her best friend Em. She loves her family: her mom, her dad and her two siblings, Kate and Nate. Her family also includes her Grandma Happy, but that relationship is slightly more complicated.
Then Pablo comes into her typical American life. Pablo and his family fled from the same country where Milly was born. At first Milly wants nothing to do with Pablo, but as he becomes acquainted in her circle of friends, Milly and Pablo start to get to know each other and become friends quickly. However, as Milly starts to get to know Pablo more, she starts to know more about her birth country, and subsequently start to want to learn more about her birth family --- starting with who they were.
FINDING MIRACLES is amazing. From the first chapter, I was immediately hooked. This book has one of the most amazing starts to a novel, and the beautiful writing, the amazing scenes, the interesting people and the complex mystery of Milly does not stop there. Through the entire book, I was completely invested in the story and the people. Each person had his or her unique identity, and I almost wish that I could read a book from each person’s perspective. Many times, side characters do not feel fully fleshed out but Julia Alvarez takes careful detail with every character, and it makes FINDING MIRACLES all the more beautiful and real. FINDING MIRACLES by Julia Alvarez is absolutely beautiful from start to finish. This book is currently one of my favorite books I’ve read this year, and I have a feeling that FINDING MIRACLES will stay that high up throughout 2018.
If you are interested in books about coming-of-age, then pick up FINDING MIRACLES immediately! This book will not let you down. Also, if you’re interested in reading books with more people of color in the book or reading books written by people of color, this book is for you. Julia Alvarez represents her characters so well, probably by taking aspects from her own experiences. FINDING MIRACLES by Julia Alvarez is incredible, and I would suggest it to anyone who is looking for something good to read.
Reviewed by Rebecca D., Teen Board Member
September 9, 2019
[Written July 23, 2005] | [Edited: September 9, 2019]
Prior to reading "Finding Miracles" I was reading a story similar to it. It was called "Somebody's daughter", and that story followed the same genre but instead of it being about young Spanish-American girl, it was about a Korean-American girl who wasn't looking for her parents, but was wondered what her native country was like. It wasn't the most thrilling story.
But, getting off that subject, I have to say that I enjoyed "Finding Miracles" very much. Written from a first-Person perspective, I could really empathize with the emotions of the main character (Milly Kaufman) and her struggle to learn what little she knew of her past and more when she traveled to her best friend's (Pablo) country (the Dominican Republic) despite the objections her family (especially her sister, Kate, who apparently was born in the Dominican Republic too) to her going.
The only problems I had with this story was the fact that Milly was prone to crying A LOT in this story. If her parents got angry at her, she would start crying while making up an excuse for herself at the same time. A lot of the time it just felt unbelievable in terms of a normal teenage reaction. It felt like she was trying to convince her parents not to punish her.
Also, if she started crying about something (mostly the Dominican Republic, which she wanted to go to) everyone in her family, excluding her grandmother and other distant relatives, were also compelled to start crying. It was such a melodrama sometimes. If I started crying about everything that upset me, I declare my parents would tell me to hush up about it.
All in all "Finding Miracles" was not a bad story. It's definitely something I'll probably look back on as a positive reading experience.
Prior to reading "Finding Miracles" I was reading a story similar to it. It was called "Somebody's daughter", and that story followed the same genre but instead of it being about young Spanish-American girl, it was about a Korean-American girl who wasn't looking for her parents, but was wondered what her native country was like. It wasn't the most thrilling story.
But, getting off that subject, I have to say that I enjoyed "Finding Miracles" very much. Written from a first-Person perspective, I could really empathize with the emotions of the main character (Milly Kaufman) and her struggle to learn what little she knew of her past and more when she traveled to her best friend's (Pablo) country (the Dominican Republic) despite the objections her family (especially her sister, Kate, who apparently was born in the Dominican Republic too) to her going.
The only problems I had with this story was the fact that Milly was prone to crying A LOT in this story. If her parents got angry at her, she would start crying while making up an excuse for herself at the same time. A lot of the time it just felt unbelievable in terms of a normal teenage reaction. It felt like she was trying to convince her parents not to punish her.
Also, if she started crying about something (mostly the Dominican Republic, which she wanted to go to) everyone in her family, excluding her grandmother and other distant relatives, were also compelled to start crying. It was such a melodrama sometimes. If I started crying about everything that upset me, I declare my parents would tell me to hush up about it.
All in all "Finding Miracles" was not a bad story. It's definitely something I'll probably look back on as a positive reading experience.
November 6, 2023
Deeply moving story of Milly Kaufman, a teenager living in Vermont in one of those happy families Tolstoy assures us are all alike: two loving, earnest, well-intentioned parents; sister Kate; younger brother Nate. The only domestic disturbance comes from an overbearing grandmother (ironically nicknamed "Happy") who likes to get her way in all things. And one other factor: Milly's parents adopted her as an infant from an orphanage in the land where they were working as Peace Corps volunteers, and she knows nothing about her birth family except that she was originally named Milagros. Milly has convinced herself that she's a 100% American girl, but the arrival of a new classmate from her native country awakens uncertainty and questions she has never pursued. And once the questions begin, Milly cannot turn them off: she needs answers. Knowledge.
A beautiful story, full of kind and humane people trying to do the right thing and repair the brokenness in their lives, bit by bit. Alvarez doesn't shy away from the difficult history of political violence and authoritarianism in Milly's birthplace, but she shows survivors dealing with their pain and moving forward, and focuses always on the power of love and kindness to brighten life. Highly recommended reading for teens and adults, especially those reacting to the trauma of war.
A beautiful story, full of kind and humane people trying to do the right thing and repair the brokenness in their lives, bit by bit. Alvarez doesn't shy away from the difficult history of political violence and authoritarianism in Milly's birthplace, but she shows survivors dealing with their pain and moving forward, and focuses always on the power of love and kindness to brighten life. Highly recommended reading for teens and adults, especially those reacting to the trauma of war.
February 21, 2022
While I don't read this genre often, it was recommended to me by a friend. I really connected with this book and identified closely with the protagonist, Milly. Not only is she a relatable high school student, she is adopted and knows nothing about her life before her adoption other than stories from her parents. I was adopted as well but we have different views about our adoption stories. This book helped me realize that there are other perspectives and experiences surrounding adoption.
"I could tell Ms. Morris was disappointed that I didn't write about my own life. And though my hands kept breaking out in rashes, trying to tell me, Milly! It's time! I wasn't ready yet to open my box of secrets." (Alvarez 6)
I appreciated this quote because it has a double reference. There's the metaphorical box of information that was her complicated adoption story and the literal mahogany box that sat on her parents’ dresser filled with information like news clippings and other papers that also provided information about her .
I would recommend this book to those who enjoy serious books.
"I could tell Ms. Morris was disappointed that I didn't write about my own life. And though my hands kept breaking out in rashes, trying to tell me, Milly! It's time! I wasn't ready yet to open my box of secrets." (Alvarez 6)
I appreciated this quote because it has a double reference. There's the metaphorical box of information that was her complicated adoption story and the literal mahogany box that sat on her parents’ dresser filled with information like news clippings and other papers that also provided information about her .
I would recommend this book to those who enjoy serious books.
February 14, 2018
Walking through the library, picking up a book, I discovered this book on CD displayed, it sounded good and I am spending more time driving lately. What a good book - and I feel it was a bit of divine intervention. Mily is our beautiful, smart, high school main character - she was adopted in South America, when her parents were working for the Peace Corps. She has grown up in Vermont and is not really sure what she thinks about her birth country. That is, until she meets Pablo, a young man who has moved with his mom and dad to the same town, escaping the political unrest. This book was a neat look into that age and time for these "kids" and moving in it's graceful, real way of handling international adoption, good families and the need for knowing your heritage. I cheered Mily on - she was a warm and lovable, mature character and her coming of age with her identity was very well written and excellent in expressing the emotions of all those touched in an adoptive family. A good book on CD makes your car commuting something to look forward to!
November 2, 2018
Desire Jimenez
Un aspecto de la novela que vi extremadamente relevante en mi vida fue cuando el personaje principal viajo a otro pais, para que su familia pueda tener un mejor futuro en los Estados Unidos ya que su pais natal no era apto para la educacion que sus padres adoptivos le querian dar a sus hijos. Aunque Milly vino pequena y practicamente comenzo su vida en los Estados Unidos ellas hasta ahora que es adolecente no puede ver cual es su verdadera identidad, no se siente conforme con sigo misma ni con su familia adoptiva porque piensa que es una carga y no pertenece al mundo de ellos. Cuando yo llegue a los Estados Unidos por primera vez yo me senti como una extrana total porque estaba dejando toda mi vida atras por una nueva, pero hoy en dia todavia no me acostumbro y ahi una parte de mi corazon que todavia extrana mi vida de infancia y siente que no es conrespondida a esta nueva vida. Pero algo que yo estoy segura de mi misma es que se quien soy y quien quiero ser en un futuro.
Un aspecto de la novela que vi extremadamente relevante en mi vida fue cuando el personaje principal viajo a otro pais, para que su familia pueda tener un mejor futuro en los Estados Unidos ya que su pais natal no era apto para la educacion que sus padres adoptivos le querian dar a sus hijos. Aunque Milly vino pequena y practicamente comenzo su vida en los Estados Unidos ellas hasta ahora que es adolecente no puede ver cual es su verdadera identidad, no se siente conforme con sigo misma ni con su familia adoptiva porque piensa que es una carga y no pertenece al mundo de ellos. Cuando yo llegue a los Estados Unidos por primera vez yo me senti como una extrana total porque estaba dejando toda mi vida atras por una nueva, pero hoy en dia todavia no me acostumbro y ahi una parte de mi corazon que todavia extrana mi vida de infancia y siente que no es conrespondida a esta nueva vida. Pero algo que yo estoy segura de mi misma es que se quien soy y quien quiero ser en un futuro.
July 25, 2021
Finding Miracles is strongest when it serves as a narrative about an adopted Latin America girl wrestling with her cultural identity. The opening of the novel frames Milly, the protagonist, as an assimilationist who rejects her home culture, but this is where the novel feels the most underdeveloped as the character of these early chapters fails to resemble the character she becomes as she discovers her true parentage. Milly the assimilationist is unremarkable and can either deter readers who wanted one of Alvarez’s stories about rebelling against cultural erasure from finishing the book or can prepare readers for a different kind of story that ultimately becomes disappointing when assimilation is altogether dropped by the novel’s end. I really enjoyed this, but I don’t feel comfortable giving it 5 stars.
March 1, 2019
This is the story of Milly (Milagros) Kaufman, a young girl from Vermont, whose life is turned upside down when a new boy in school, Pablo, seems to recognize something in her, and asks her where she is from. Having always kept the facts of her adoption under wraps, Milly is very disturbed by what she deems as Pablo's prying question. However, it is precisely Pablo's interest that reawakens her own. Where was she from? Why was she given away? How could she uncover the facts of her birth and adoption?
Finding Miracles is an interesting tale, but it just did not have enough surprises to keep me enthralled.
Finding Miracles is an interesting tale, but it just did not have enough surprises to keep me enthralled.
March 7, 2020
Excellent YA novel by Alvarez, who I first read as an adult political author. This one takes place in the US and in an unnamed Central American country. Features adoption and a gentle young romance, and a gorgeous capturing of a country recovering from a long period of oppression. Milky is a great character, and her learning the stories of 3possible sets of birth parents is beautifully told. More central is her coming to terms with what it means to be part of her adoptive family while embracing her birth country through Pablo and his family (nice subtheme of the families that we choose for ourselves).
October 16, 2022
It took me a long time to read this because I had to read so slowly. There were plenty of words I didn’t know, but with context clues and a dictionary, I was able to understand the majority of the story. The main character is an American teenager who was adopted from a third world country in South America as an infant. She ends up meeting a family who fled that same country because of the danger they faced as revolutionaries. As they become friends, and the dictator is overthrown, they plan a trip back to her birth country. The story is beautiful and examines the complexities of adoption along with the tragedies of political uprisings.
October 21, 2023
I enjoyed this book. It started slow but definitely picked up its pace in the middle. Throughout the book, I remained curious and determined to identify the true country and birthplace of Milly. Unfortunately, I was frustrated by the characters in her family who didn’t understand her and didn’t give her the space to freely explore her identity. She was constantly apologizing to her family for wanting to know more about her history. Up to the last chapter of the book, there seemed to be no character development on that front, where although the family tried to appear understanding, everyone, except Milly’s mother, made Milly’s self-discovery about themselves.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 9, 2021
Milly has a secret that only her family knows but when a new student Pablo arrives she is forced to confront and embrace her story. As she travels back to where she was born she has to learn the countries sad history, deal with her adoptive families feelings of abandonment and search for herself. The journey is full of milagritos (tiny miracles) and Milly becomes Milagros and finds herself and her light and a whole extended family. As always Julia Alvarez has written a beautiful coming of age novel full of history, love and culture!
December 13, 2021
I liked this book because of the constant twists and turns. The one thing I did not like about this book, was it took a while to get to the main part of the story. I would recommend reading this book to people who love adventures. A quick summary of the book is, when Milly was a baby, she was adopted by a family living in Vermont. Now a teenager, she meets a new kid in school, named Pablo, who was from her native country. Now that Pablo has arrived, Milly wants to figure out her past, family and culture. This book is about her journey to find her family heritage.
June 19, 2023
I liked the tension of the adoptee journey and the very messy feel of it all. However I was consistently distracted by the fact that the author never named her home country. It kept feeling like a mystery I was supposed to be gaining clues to but never got an answer for. I guess i understand what she was trying to do but I don’t really know that it added to the story and unless you are already knowledgeable in the politics of Latin America I think it just adds a hitch in an otherwise interesting story.
June 8, 2020
Bueno, siendo sincera este libro me gustó. Fue el primer libro que leí completamente en inglés. Lo leí a principios de la cuarentena ya que tenía que contestar unas preguntas para un trabajo de la escuela. La mejor parte para mí, fue el romance, ya que me encanta y cada vez que leía lo que esperaba era una declaración hasta que la hubo en esa escena en la playa. En verdad me gustó de qué trataba y eso, no fue lo mejor, pero estuvo bueno...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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