For Ages
8 to 12

How Tia Lola Ended Up Starting Over is a part of the The Tia Lola Stories collection.

Tía Lola returns in the fourth and final book in the beloved Tía Lola Stories by the international bestselling author of How the García Girls Lost Their Accents and In the Time of the Butterflies.

"A fitting farewell to a memorable character." —Kirkus

Welcome to Tía Lola's bed and breakfast! With the help of her niece and nephew and the three Sword Sisters, Tía Lola is opening the doors of Colonel Charlebois' grand old Vermont house to visitors from all over. But Tía Lola and the children soon realize that running a B & B isn't as easy they had initially thought—especially when it appears that someone is out to sabotage them! Will Tía Lola and the kids discover who's behind the plot to make their B & B fail? And will Tía Lola's family and friends be able to plan her a surprise birthday party in her own B & B without her finding out?

An Excerpt fromHow Tia Lola Ended Up Starting Over

Chapter One

How Tia Lola Saved the Swords from Starvation

Tia Lola and the children are having an emergency meeting in the big attic room in Colonel Charlebois’s house. They are all brainstorming about how the Swords are going to survive now that they have moved to Vermont.

Miguel and Juanita can’t help thinking about their own move here a year and nine months ago. Their parents were separating. Miguel and Juanita were leaving all their friends and their papi behind in New York City to come to this strange place. But at least Mami had a job. And they didn’t have to be all alone in the house while she worked long hours. A few weeks after their move, their aunt from the Dominican Republic, Tia Lola, came to visit and decided to stay.

“Don’t worry, Swords,” Juanita says, brandishing a pretend sword, as if she were leading a charge. Swords is a fun nickname for the Espadas, whose last name means “sword” in Spanish.

“But we haven’t come up with a way to earn some money,” Essie wails.