How the García Girls Lost Their Accents

When Laura and Carlos (the sisters’ parents) arrive in New York, Laura gets the urge to invent a new product. She spends a lot of time drawing sketches of her ideas, which include a shower head that dispenses soap and a car bumper with a detachable can opener. Her daughters discourage Laura from thinking up inventions all the time. They want her to spend her time helping them adjust to American life instead. Laura argues with her daughters frequently because the girls try to blend in with Americans while Laura and Carlos want them to retain their Dominican culture. Laura argues the most with Yolanda, who often speaks on behalf of all the sisters. Laura speaks to her daughters in English, which Carlos disagrees with.

One night, Laura screams and wakes up Carlos. He awakes in shock, fearing that the SIM (the Dominican Military Intelligence Service) is following them. Laura actually screamed because she saw in the news that someone invented something she already thought of—a suitcase with wheels. Laura gives up inventing, realizing that she can’t compete with Americans. She begins to spend her time helping at her husband’s office instead. He is a doctor in the Bronx.

Yolanda was a bad student in the Dominican Republic, but in New York she develops an affinity for English. A teacher selects Yolanda to give a speech at school, but Yolanda has trouble thinking of what to say. She gets inspiration from a poem by Walt Whitman. When she finally finishes the speech, she reads it to her mother, who is overwhelmed with pride. Yolanda and Laura find Carlos to share the speech with him. Carlos is reading the Dominican news when they find him, as he does every night. The revolution in the Dominican Republic is successful, and he considers moving the family back. Laura doesn’t want to return because she feels insignificant in the Dominican Republic. This is partially because she doesn’t feel like a sufficient wife, since she never had a son.

When Carlos hears the speech, he is angry. He thinks it is disrespectful and overly prideful, and he tells Yolanda that she is not allowed to read it at school. Laura takes Yolanda’s side, and Carlos takes the paper from Yolanda and tears it up. Yolanda throws the bits of paper at her father and calls him “Chapita.” Enraged, Carlos chases her through the house, but Yolanda locks herself in her room. Laura helps Yolanda write a plain and polite speech. The next day, Carlos buys Yolanda a nice electric typewriter. He says that he loves Yolanda and wants only to protect her.