Meet the Cast
Yolanda
Who Am I?Yolanda has a mental breakdown that seems to be related to her inability to write. For a poet, writer's block is definitely a crisis. Yoyo feels like she has a fragmented career, divided b...
Fifi (Sofia)
Wild ThingSofía is the baby of the family, but when it comes to rebellion, she leaves her sisters in the dust. As a teenager, she holds the coveted title of "Wild Child" the longest. When she real...
Papi (Carlos)
As a young man in the Dominican Republic, Carlos García is one of the "firebrand(s) among the upper-class fellas" (3.1.46) that Victor Hubbard of the U.S. State Department is grooming for revoluti...
Mami (Laura)
Like Papi, Mami becomes a different person once she moves to the U.S. In the Dominican Republic, she's a sort of Super-Mami. A glamorous mami who wears long, silver ballgowns and dances boleros wit...
Sandi
Sandi is the second-oldest of the four García sisters. At the beginning of the novel, Sandi is sort of a train wreck. She develops an eating disorder and has a "small breakdown" that lands her in...
Carla
Dr. Carla, aka Miss BossypantsCarla is the oldest of the four García sisters. Carla's always been pretty bossy, but when she decides to become a psychologist, her condescending advice gets really,...
Tía Flor
The cousins refer to Tía Flor as "the politician" (1.1.12) because no matter how bad things get, she always has a big, fake smile on her face. This title is not a compliment. Ironically, Tía Flor...
Tía Mimi
Tía Mimi is, for a long time, Yoyo's maiden aunt. That means she isn't married, even though she's hit the ripe old age of twenty-eight and is probably doomed to be an "old maid" (3.2.8).Mimi's not...
Chucha
Chucha is the García family's cook, and she's been with them since Mami was in diapers. Actually, she's been with the family since 1937. This is how we know:Chucha is Haitian, and as a native Fren...
Victor Hubbard (Tío Vic)
Victor Hubbard, or "Tío Vic" to the García sisters, tells everybody he's a diplomat with the U.S. State Department. But really he's a CIA agent. A CIA agent who has been sent to the Dominican Rep...