White as Silence, Red as Song: A Novel

by Alessandro D'Avenia

Overview

Hailed as Italy’s The Fault in Our Stars, this Italian bestseller is now available for the first time in English.

“I was born on the first day of school, and I grew up and old in just two hundred days . . .”

Sixteen-year-old Leo has a way with words, but he doesn’t know it yet. He spends his time texting, polishing soccer maneuvers, and killing time with Niko and Silvia. Until a new teacher arrives and challenges him to give voice to his dreams.

And so Leo is inspired to win over the red-haired beauty Beatrice. She doesn’t know Leo exists, but he’s convinced that his dream will come true. When Leo lands in the hospital and learns that Beatrice has been admitted too, his mission to be there for her will send him on a thrilling but heartbreaking journey. He wants to help her but doesn’t know how—and his dream of love will force him to grow up fast.

Having already sold over a million copies, Alessandro D’Avenia’s debut novel is considered Italy’s The Fault in Our Stars. Now available in English for the first time, this rich, funny, and heartwarming coming-of-age tale asks us to explore the meaning—and the cost—of friendship, and shows us what happens when suffering bursts into the world of teenagers and renders the world of adults speechless.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780785264798
Publisher:	Nelson, Thomas, Inc.
Publication date:	04/27/2021
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.66(d)
Age Range:	13 - 18 Years

About the Author

Alessandro D’Avenia holds a PhD in Classical Literature, and teaches Ancient Greek, Latin and Literature at a high school in Milan. White as Silence, Red as Song was his first novel,published in Italy in 2010. It sold a million copies in Italy, has been translated into over twenty languages and was released as a film in 2012. Alessandro has since published four more books, the latest of which, Every Story is a Love Story, was published in October 2017.

Editorial Reviews

'This is a beautifully written meditation on the importance of dreams and the power of every kind of love — first, unrequited, and lifelong. Leo's literally colorful worldview, seeing things in shades of white and red, grounds the narrative, which often twists and turns around larger-than-life myths and philosophy. D'Avenia has crafted a truly unique and authentic teen voice, easily moving from the banality of PlayStation battles to the profundity of true love. Translated from the Italian, this affecting debut is a sweet love story unafraid to tackle big questions.'

Booklist

'This is a beautifully written meditation on the importance of dreams and the power of every kind of love — first, unrequited, and lifelong. Leo's literally colorful worldview, seeing things in shades of white and red, grounds the narrative, which often twists and turns around larger-than-life myths and philosophy. D'Avenia has crafted a truly unique and authentic teen voice, easily moving from the banality of PlayStation battles to the profundity of true love. Translated from the Italian, this affecting debut is a sweet love story unafraid to tackle big questions.'

Booklist

2018-06-18
A love triangle made more complex because one of the geometric points is sick with leukemia.Leo loves Beatrice. He loves her even though he's never actually spoken to her, even though she never answers his text messages. When he learns from his friend Silvia that Beatrice has leukemia, his life erupts in a chaos of emotion. One good thing to come out of his grief is that he donates blood. He also writes her a letter expressing his emotions, but on his way to deliver it he gets into an accident on his scooter and winds up in the hospital. Will he ever make his feelings for her known? Or will he see the stoic girl standing by his side supporting him as a friend in a more romantic light? Translated from the Italian, this book tends toward the repetitive and esoteric. Dialogue feels stilted and off-key, often marred by an overabundance of exclamation points and lines that don't reflect how teenagers naturally speak: " ‘We've got to put those losers to shame!' I beam with delight. What would school be like without the soccer tournament?" The sluggish plot relies on the dry discourse of characters who spend a lot of time pondering their unlucky situations.A book about young people dealing with cancer that never moves beyond illness as a mechanism for self-discovery. (Fiction. 12-15)

Kirkus Reviews