Exactly how steamy is this story?
PG-13
How the García Girls Lost Their Accents is, in many ways, a coming-of-age story. It's a backwards coming-of-age story, but still. And you know what's a big part of becoming an adult? Yup. Hormones, sexy feelings, and all that jazz. The García girls' "Old World" parents try as hard as possible to keep their daughters from "going behind the palm trees," but they're fighting a losing battle.
The sex in this book isn't very explicit, for the most part. Even though the novel makes fun of Carla-the-psychologist's tendency to read sex into everything (red shoes? *eye roll*), it still invites us to read sex into a few things. Okay, a lot of things.
That poem Yoyo writes with her college boyfriend, Rudy Elmenhurst? Chock full o' double entendres. "The coming of the spring upon the boughs?" It's not just about trees (1.5.17). And the way Yoyo pops the cork out of a bottle of wine? That she's holding between her legs? (1.5.41). Yeah, you get the idea.
Basically the book warns us not to be as naïve as Mami, who thinks Yoyo's sexy poems are just the product of her "great imagination." Yeah, right. And the handsome man in the front row is just a "friend" (1.3.38).
But our newfound ability to read between the lines of this novel can also lead us to some pretty disturbing conclusions. Check out our section on the theme of "Sex and Sexuality" for an in-depth analysis of the incestuous vibe in the chapter "The Kiss."
And there are some instances of sexual misconduct that don't require much interpretation at all. When Carla is stalked by a pedophile in the chapter "Tresspass," it's not hard to figure out what the man is doing (2.3.20). Like most sexual acts, it's over pretty quickly. But the effects his actions have on Carla—making her feel even more lost, alone and insecure in her new country—are long-lasting.