How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents Audiobook By Julia Alvarez cover art

How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents

 Preview
Get this deal Try for $0.00
Offer ends December 16, 2025 11:59pm PT.
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just $0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 audiobook per month of your choice from our unparalleled catalog.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents

By: Julia Alvarez
Narrated by: Blanca Camacho, Annie Henk, Annie Kozuch, Noemi de la Puente, Melanie Martinez
Get this deal Try for $0.00

$14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime. Offers ends December 16, 2025 11:59pm PT.

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $17.19

Buy for $17.19

LIMITED TIME OFFER. Get 3 months for $0.99 a month. Get this deal.
Hailed by the Los Angeles Times as "simply wonderful", How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents captures the vivid lives of the Garcia sisters, four privileged and rebellious Dominican girls adapting to their new lives in America. In the 1960s, political tension forces the Garcia family away from Santo Domingo and toward the Bronx. The sisters all hit their strides in America, adapting and thriving despite cultural differences, language barriers, and prejudice. But Mami and Papi are more traditional, and they have far more difficulty adjusting to their new country. Making matters worse, the girls, frequently embarrassed by their parents, find ways to rebel against them.

A touching coming-of-age tale, this enthralling book perfectly illuminates the intergenerational struggles and multicultural clashes so common to the American immigrant family.

©1991 Julia Alvarez (P)2006 Recorded Books Caribbean Creators Latino & Hispanic Creators Literature & Fiction

Critic reviews

"These interconnected vignettes of family life, resilience, and love are skillfully intertwined and offer young adults a perspective on immigration and families as well as a look at America through Hispanic eyes. This unique coming-of-age tale is a feast of stories that will enchant and captivate readers." ( School Library Journal)

Featured Article: 10 of the Best Hispanic Authors to Listen to Right Now


This list is in no way exhaustive, but it is a great place to discover—or rediscover—exceptional Hispanic writers, many with extensive back catalogs. It’s gratifying to hear these works in the language in which they were written, with gorgeous renditions en español. And while you’ll have plenty of their work to listen to, we also suggest you learn about the lives of each author. Their stories include struggles as immigrants, expatriates, and refugees.

Featured Article 10 of the Best Hispanic Authors to Listen to Right Now
All stars
Most relevant
loved the story and narration!
first audible read, cant wait to read the next! thanks

how the garcia list their accents

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
loved it, narrated very well
This was my first and I enjoyed it.
I will recommend.

First time

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I liked the contrast of DR and NYC cultures. Julia Alvarez is a gifted writer who paints a vivid picture with words.

Voices that span two worlds

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Like a collage of intertwined stories, the author demonstrates a fantastic ability to incorporate many different characters without losing the overall themes of the book. There is as much life in what is told, as what is left unspoken.

Great stories and wonderful performances

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I wish everyone would read this and have a new perspective of what its like for immigrants in the US. True some people move to the US for a better life, but we don’t hear the stories of those that had to do it to save their lives and the sacrifices that are involved. Some had a financial secure life in their home country and come to live in poverty or not as luxurious. If i got one thing out of this book, it was a glimpse of that risk and an honest look at how immigrants are treated. It’s a good reminder for me to be open minded and be an ally. I heard this book was banned, and i couldn’t think of a reason why it should be.

A must read!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Good narrators but you couldn't really distinguish the change in voices when it came to the different characters.

Good book, interesting story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I really enjoyed this book.
its a truly lovely story told be a series of unrealisable narrators. It's a wonderful example of how a family stories, which are so engrained in our family's collective memory are usually remembered very different and how the stories that shape us evolved. I enjoyed the unusual structure of this book and the many truths it captures. Iencters are narated by different actors and I always enjoy that.

I loved it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I really enjoyed the switch of narrators. I loved the book and plan to read it again.

awesome

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I like how the book went backwards in time as snapshots of moments in their lives. I read the book partially to better understand Dominican culture, and I feel that I do. It was read well and written well.

Liked it

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I've both listened to this and read the book, and for one thing, I just think that this isn't a book that translates to audio well. It's non linear, which makes for a confusing listen for ANY audiobook. I actually really enjoyed reading, but listening, not so much. It doesn't help that the narrator (narrators? It lists multiple people but I only hear one, it seems) is AWFUL.

better in paper form

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews