Miguel and Juanita move from New York City to a Vermont farmhouse with their mother after their parents divorce.

Mami invites her favorite aunt, Tía Lola, to travel from the Dominican Republic and help care for the children.

Miguel nervously makes an announcement in Spanish over the airport intercom to locate the missing Tía Lola.

Tía Lola appears in a colorful summer dress and joyfully embraces Miguel, Juanita, and their mother at the airport.

Miguel writes '¡Bienvenida, Tía Lola!' in the snow to cheer up his homesick great-aunt.

Papi surprises Miguel by driving from New York City to attend his son's 10th birthday celebration.

Friends and family throw Miguel a surprise birthday party featuring a piñata and a baseball-shaped cake.

Miguel's entire family attends his little league tryouts together, and he performs well enough to make the team.

Mami agrees to let the children visit Papi in New York if they get along better and Tía Lola's English improves.

Tía Lola gets lost in New York City shortly after Papi meets the group at Pennsylvania Station.

Miguel coaches Tía Lola by phone to read street signs, and the family finds her near the Empire State Building.

Tía Lola paints the farmhouse a deep purple, angering Colonel Charlebois, who threatens to evict the Guzmán family.

Charlebois has a change of heart after watching Miguel's team play in the purple and white uniforms Tía Lola sewed.

Over 70 guests, including Charlebois in his new purple uniform, attend Mami's surprise birthday party in the field behind the farmhouse.

The Guzmán family travels to the Dominican Republic for Christmas, and Miguel asks Tía Lola to return to Vermont with him.

Miguel and his sister move to Vermont with their mother following their parents' divorce, and Mami invites the vibrant Tía Lola from the Dominican Republic to help the family settle in. Tía Lola's colorful arrival brings immediate warmth to their isolated new life, and Miguel begins to open his heart to her after creating a welcoming message in the snow. With his whole family cheering him on, Miguel makes the little league team and celebrates his birthday surrounded by the friends he has found in his new town. When Tía Lola gets lost during a New York City trip, Miguel's quick thinking reunites the family and earns him new respect. Back in Vermont, Tía Lola's decision to paint the farmhouse purple sparks a conflict with their landlord that ultimately deepens the community's bonds. The year closes with a joyful Christmas trip to the Dominican Republic, where Miguel asks Tía Lola to return to Vermont and stay by his side.

The headline events of Tía Lola's transformative arrival in Vermont.

Juanita cheers Mami up the night before Tía Lola's arrival by asking questions about their aunt in Spanish.

Miguel accidentally makes Mami cry by blurting out that Tía Lola probably never married in order to avoid getting divorced.

Tía Lola sprinkles Agua de Florida around her room, and Mami explains to the children that she is a santera who works with magic.

Sam and Dean flee the farmhouse after seeing Tía Lola cleansing it of bad spirits, convinced the house must be haunted.

Tía Lola stops telling the children stories after Miguel ignores her and hides her existence from his new friends.

During a snowstorm that cancels school, Mami gently encourages Miguel to be more welcoming toward the homesick Tía Lola.

Rudy begins visiting the farmhouse on Monday nights and spends more time learning Dominican cooking and merengue dancing from Tía Lola.

During a phone call, Miguel admits to Papi that he wishes Tía Lola would leave because he already feels different enough at school.

Tía Lola cooks Dominican lunches for Miguel, and a classmate who shares the food soon sees his father win the lottery.

Tía Lola misunderstands the phrase 'raining cats and dogs' and falls on the slippery steps while trying to shoo the animals away.

Tía Lola shapes the family garden like the Dominican Republic and tears up while singing the island's national anthem.

Juanita devises a cue card plan with pictures to prompt Tía Lola into saying English phrases whenever Mami is nearby.

The family visits Papi's parents' bodega in a Spanish-speaking neighborhood, and Tía Lola dances merengue with strangers in the street.

Mami reveals to Miguel that Tía Lola stepped in to raise her from the age of three after her own mother died.

Tía Lola tells her special birthday story in English for the first time, explaining why different places around the world have different weather.

Before Tía Lola even arrives, family tensions surface when Miguel accidentally makes his mother cry with a thoughtless remark about marriage and divorce. After her arrival, Tía Lola's spiritual practices unsettle Miguel and briefly frighten his new friends, while her homesickness and his reluctance to accept her create a painful rift between them. During the winter months, Rudy's Monday night visits and a difficult phone call with Papi reveal how much Miguel is still struggling with the changes in his family. As spring and summer unfold, Tía Lola's Dominican cooking creates moments of suspected magic, her garden becomes a living tribute to her homeland, and the siblings' cue card scheme shows how inventively they work together when they have a shared goal. A trip to Papi's parents' lively neighborhood in New York shows Tía Lola fully in her element, and a surprising revelation about her history as Mami's surrogate mother reframes Miguel's understanding of what family means. Tía Lola's birthday story, told in English for the very first time, gives the whole family a profound and lasting sense of belonging.

The quieter moments that shape the family's bonds and growth.

Miguel worries that his classmates will discover Tía Lola and see her as further proof that he does not belong.

Tía Lola tells Miguel that everything is magical if made with love after he asks whether her cooking has special powers.

Papi rejects a classmate's racial stereotype, telling Miguel he will make the team because he has practiced hard, not because he is Dominican.

Tía Lola proposes that the bickering siblings teach her English so they have a shared goal and a reason to cooperate.

Mami discovers the children's cue card scheme but agrees to let them travel to New York to see their father anyway.

Miguel promises Mami that he will personally look after both Juanita and Tía Lola during the New York City trip.

Miguel calls Mami in Spanish to report that Tía Lola has been found, knowing the language will add to her relief and joy.

The siblings keep arguing over plans in New York until Tía Lola proposes that each child choose one full day of activities.

Papi shows Miguel and Juanita his new painting and invites them to suggest titles, promising the winner a return trip to New York.

Miguel discovers old photographs of a young Colonel Charlebois on a baseball team while exploring the farmhouse attic with Tía Lola.

Colonel Charlebois tells Miguel he would be honored to have the little league team practice in the fields around the farmhouse.

Miguel's teammates elect him team captain, and he names Tía Lola the team's official manager for her cooking and stories.

Tía Lola comforts Miguel and Juanita when they share their sadness about the divorce, telling them they never have to lose anyone they truly love.

A Dominican airport official tells Miguel and Juanita they don't look American, leaving Miguel feeling torn between his two identities.

Miguel recognizes Tía Lola beneath the Santa Claus costume by her earrings and beauty mark, and wishes for her to come home to Vermont.

Miguel's early fear that Tía Lola will make him stand out even more among his white classmates slowly gives way to a deeper understanding of love and belonging. At little league tryouts, Papi's firm rejection of a racial stereotype teaches Miguel that his own hard work defines him, not his background. Tía Lola's clever proposal to have the siblings teach her English transforms a rivalry into cooperation and sets off a chain of events leading to a pivotal trip to New York City. There, Miguel proves his growing maturity by keeping his promise to his mother, finding the lost Tía Lola, and brokering a fair compromise with his sister over their shared days. Back in Vermont, a surprising discovery in the farmhouse attic and Tía Lola's gift for building community reshape how Miguel sees his landlord, his neighborhood, and himself. The story's emotional turning point arrives in the Dominican Republic, where a question about identity at the airport and a tender Christmas exchange with Tía Lola bring Miguel's year-long journey from resistance to belonging to a meaningful close.