War In My Town

by E. Graziani

Overview

Bruna is the youngest of seven children, living an idyllic life in a small village in Italy in the 1940s. The only complication is the fact that her father lives far away, forcing her mother to raise the family alone. As the Second World War unfolds in Europe their lives remain largely unchanged. In 1943, Bruna's biggest disappointment is that food rationing means there is no cake to celebrate her fourteenth birthday. The Italian leader Mussolini's allegiance with Hitler and the distant reports of fighting seem far away from their lives. When war finally comes to their region, Bruna struggles to cope as her brothers become caught up in the resistance and Nazi soldiers descend to occupy their village. Bruna must help her mother and sisters stand up to the occupying soldiers. Her peaceful life is turned upside down by the fact that her beloved little village – the only front left defended by the Nazis in Italy – is now the centre of the final stage of fighting.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781927583722
Publisher:	Second Story Press
Publication date:	03/23/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	186
File size:	5 MB
Age Range:	12 - 18 Years

About the Author

E. Graziani is a teacher, author, and self-proclaimed life-long learner. Her love of history, word artistry, and storytelling help to fuel these goals as do her students who particularly enjoy her classroom read alouds. She has worked with the Alzheimer Society of Canada to raise awareness and educate people regarding this disease. Graziani has written two other books, Alice of the Rocks and Jess Under Pressure. She resides in Stoney Creek, Ontario, with her husband and four daughters.

Editorial Reviews

...a beautifully written story that is made all the more poignant for being real. I strongly recommend you read it.

t! magazine

Although the history of the Second World War is taught in secondary school, the focus tends to be on the Western European campaigns.... the travails of the Italian villagers situated in the area of the Gothic Line are not nearly as well known, and Ms. Graziani has done us a favour in telling the story of her mother’s childhood during the war in the village of Eglio, in northern Tuscany.

Resource Links

War in My Town is the clear and perfect title of the memoir, capturing the immediacy and the seeming impossibility of living with war at home.... Chapters sharing the story of Bruna's life are interwoven with brief, clear chapters explaining the progress of the war, as the Nazis dig in and the Allies move inexorably toward Eglio.

Canadian Children's Book News

War in My Town is a title that would make a great addition to the middle and high school library. It would be a good choice for the classroom when studying World War II, since it shows how ordinary citizens in a small Italian village overcame the odds and survived the perils of war.

Catholic Library World

War in My Town is an incredibly rich historical narrative... Any history lesson about WWII would be incomplete without a recommendation to read this book.

Canadian Teacher Magazine

Many books have been written about the Nazi occupation of other parts of Europe, but fewer exist about Italian experiences, and Graziani deserves praise for presenting this part of the war to young readers.

CM: Canadian Review of Materials

With emotional dialogue and tense scenes, Graziani paints an unforgettable portrait of the Nazi occupation of Italy. Complete with black-and-white photographs of the heroine’s family and a map of Europe, War in My Town is a compelling, life-affirming memoir of conflict, love and loss, and the power of human resilience against almost-unfathomable odds.ly - The National Reading Campaign

Bruna's perspective as a teenage girl caught amid the hardships and horrors of war is interesting and strongly told…. War in My Town succeeds as a testament to the strength of family and community under extraordinary circumstances, and as a tiny window into a little-known fragment of the Second World War.

Quill & Quire

With emotional dialogue and tense scenes, Graziani paints an unforgettable portrait of the Nazi occupation of Italy. Complete with black-and-white photographs of the heroine’s family and a map of Europe, War in My Town is a compelling, life-affirming memoir of conflict, love and loss, and the power of human resilience against almost-unfathomable odds.

Readerly - The National Reading Campaign