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Finding Miracles
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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
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Paperback, 288 pages
Published
May 9th 2006
by Laurel Leaf
(first published October 1st 2004)
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Rutvi Patel
why did my parent left me alone
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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 ski ...more
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 i
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"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 Mi
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Mar 22, 2017
TL
marked it as dnf
Buddyread 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 ...more
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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 ...more
A lovely book which deserves more attention than it has received. Best for MS-HS students. Recommended.
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.
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"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, get
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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 mysel ...more
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 mysel ...more
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 s
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An engaging young adult novel concerned with identity, personal and familial history, and where one fits with that. Magical realism for kids!
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 sh ...more
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 sh ...more
[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" v ...more
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" v ...more
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 h
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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 adop
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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
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YA. The protagonist, Millie (Milagro) is adopted from a war torn Central America (El Salvador?) and raised with sister Kate and brother Nathan in America. Keeps her adoption secret until meeting Pablo and family who come from the same country. Millie returns to her birth county and becomes enmeshed and humbled by what happened there, what her own possible story may have been, and what extended family really means. Millie reclaims her real name, Milagro, and it is symbolic of her reclaiming the w
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Milly Kaufman's journey of self-discovery was quite a beautiful little story. I enjoyed the whole thing, including how the author left the home country of the protagonist ambiguous to send a message. Most teenagers are not as in-touch with their feelings and reasons for acting the way they do as Milly was, but other than that, I found the book a wonderful read.
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This book was a miracle itself. From the characters feelings to the setting it almost felt like you were living in the book itself. Milly's story was one of love, sadness and kindness one that everyone should read for its powerful moral.
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Good for young adults
I enjoyed it enough to finish this story. The beginning is intriguing and makes you read more. There was some elements missing that you find other books by Julia Alvarez that are missing here. However, it was worth the read.
I enjoyed it enough to finish this story. The beginning is intriguing and makes you read more. There was some elements missing that you find other books by Julia Alvarez that are missing here. However, it was worth the read.
This book intrigued me because of having a close relationship with a family member who was adopted from a Latin American country. This book was written so truthfully, and the main character, Milly (or Milagros), is a very realistic teenager trying to find out who she is. I love this book!
As an educator, it's important to suggest books such as Finding Miracles so our students can learn about their world, cultures unlike their own and realize we are all so similar, no matter where we live.
Setting: unnamed in Latin America ...more
Setting: unnamed in Latin America ...more
This book was a quick read! I enjoyed following Milly’s story as she learned more about her native country. The book offered an interesting perspective of one raised in an adopted American family, discovering her culture and true identity.
A touching story about one young girl's Journey to find herself in a blended family.
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Well told story of a girl coming to grips with her present day self and her past.
The Homeland.
Although a little romanticized, this book was a beautiful blend of cultures and demonstrated the tension of being adopted from another country and the desire to find yourself in that place.
Finding Miracles was an amazing book, and even though I do not speak Spanish, I felt I could understand what Milly went through and how she finds herself in this incredible journey.
I really liked this book. It was a great book. I want to read more books.
Dec 14, 2019
Mr. Skipper's GT Cafe
added it
one copy
ordinary H.S. student until meets new student from home country where she was born then adopted & decides to make dangerous journey back find roots.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Class of 2015: FINDING MIRACLES | 1 | 6 | Mar 26, 2014 07:48PM | |
| Class of 2013: book review #3 finiding Miracles | 1 | 5 | Jun 12, 2013 10:44PM |
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Julia 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 h
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