How Tía Lola Saved the Summer by Julia Álvarez

that soft haze of a summer evening. Colonel Charlebois agrees to stay for dinner. By the time he is ready to leave, it’s already dark. He asks Essie if she wouldn’t mind accompanying him to the car. He has something for her in the trunk.
    Essie’s heart soars. She is going to get a gift from Colonel Charlebois, without him having to die first!
    When Essie shines the beam of her treasure-hunt flashlight into the trunk, which the colonel has thrown open, she can hardly believe her eyes. The samurai sword in its elaborate scabbard! “For me?” she gasps. But a second later, her heart plummets. Papa will never let her accept such a precious gift. He’ll think that, Essie being Essie, she must have hinted that she sure could use a samurai sword down in the dangerous streets of New York City.
    “I can’t,” she has to admit sadly. “Papa’ll make me give it back. He thinks we’re imposing if people give us stuff.”
    “We won’t call it a gift, then,” Colonel Charlebois suggests.
    Essie can feel the skies of possibility opening. Like when a roller coaster climbs slowly, with effort, and you know once you get to the top, you’re going to plunge down, but that means you’ll soon be swinging back up ina wild, wonderful arc of a ride. You need the down part to make the up part so thrilling.
    “Let’s just call it a trade.”
    A trade? But Essie doesn’t have anything as special to exchange for a genuine samurai sword.
    “Didn’t you say you had a magic sword?”
    “But it’s not really, it’s just a plastic—”
    The colonel shakes his head. “If Tía Lola says that sword is magic, then that’s guarantee enough for me. Lord knows I have a bunch of challenges I need help with right now, including this cold. So, what do you say, is it a swap or not?”
    Is this really happening? Essie wonders as she races back to the house to retrieve the sword from her backpack. Before handing it over, she says, “Thank you, sword, for granting my wish.” She did not inherit a million dollars or get to play baseball instead of Miguel, but she is now the proud owner of a genuine samurai warrior sword. She has also had a magnificent day and made several new friends. True to her name, Esperanza has everything she could hope for.

Eight
thursday night
and friday

    Mami’s Mistake Monster
    It’s been another packed evening: dinner with Colonel Charlebois, a campfire with songs and s’mores. The kids and Tía Lola have all gone up to bed.
    Mami and Víctor linger, sitting on the deck, the lights from the second-floor bedrooms shining down on them. It’s their last opportunity to talk privately before more guests arrive tomorrow.
    Papi and Carmen and Abuelito and Abuelita will all be staying in the house—Mami caved in to keep everyone happy. Papi will sleep on the pullout couch in the den, and the girls all together in Juanita’s room, freeing up the guest room for Abuelito and Abuelita. Carmen is delighted to share a room with Tía Lola. It will be a hectic couple ofdays, what with the big game, meals, visiting, before the guests all leave on Sunday.
    Maybe that’s why Victoria has been drawn to her window, already feeling so wistful about their departure. She has wished on a star and kissed the blade of her sword several times for good luck. What else can she do? She really hopes Papa will decide to relocate to Vermont. But each time the Swords have brought it up, Papa has replied, “It’s not just up to me, you know.”
    On the deck, below Victoria’s window, an interesting conversation is unfolding. Victoria wouldn’t dream of snooping, but then she hears the magic words “move to
    Vermont.” She hushes Cari and Juanita and Essie, who are jabbering away in the room behind her. They hurry to the window, curious to see what has caught the eldest Sword’s attention.
    “I just think we need to put the move to Vermont on hold,” Linda is saying. She and Víctor met only three months ago. Since then it’s been a