Name: Stones in Water
ISBN: 9781101665640

Donna Jo Napoli

When Roberto sneaks off to see a movie in his Italian village, he has no idea that life as he knows it is over. German soldiers raid the theater, round up the boys in the audience, and pack them onto a train. After a terrifying journey, Roberto and his best friend Samuele find themselves in a brutal work camp, where food is scarce and horror is everywhere. The boys vow to stay together no matter what. But Samuele has a dangerous secret, which, if discovered, could get them both killed. Lovers of historical fiction will be captivated by this tragic, triumphant, and deeply moving novel.

Stones in Water

This is a book for every Bar Mitzvah boy and indeed anyone who wants to learn about the beliefs, philosophies and history of the Jewish religion.

Jeni Enjaian

For me this was a pretty average book. I will admit at the start that I read it a bit too quickly and may have missed some of the narrative transitions. That being said, Napoli captured my interest at the outset with a unique (to me at least) setting of a young boy in Italy during World War II. Most books focus on more "popular" areas of Europe during that time period and Italy gets shunted to the side as the ugly step-child devotee of Hitler's Nazi Germany. Napoli, being Italian herself, picked a good "gray" area to focus on.
I would definitely recommend this book primarily because of its setting but also because of Napoli's excellent narrative. (She is a very talented author. I just have some issues with some of her narrative choices.)

Stones in Water

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