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Alligator bayou
By Napoli, Donna Jo
Publishers Summary:
Fourteen-year-old Calogero Scalise and his Sicilian uncles and cousin live in small-town Louisiana in 1898, when Jim Crow laws rule and anti-immigration sentiment is strong, so despite his attempts to be polite and to follow American customs, disaster dogs his family at every turn.
- ISBN
- 978-0-38590-891-7
- Publisher
REVIEWS
School Library Journal
Reviewed on May 1, 2009
Gr 8-Up Building on her extensive research conducted after reading a newspaper article about the lynching of Sicilian grocers in Tallulah, LA, in 1899, Napoli presents a moving, sobering story about an aspect of American immigration that is probably unknown to most readers. After his mother's death, 14-year-old Calogero leaves his bustling Sicilian home for the sleepy southern town to help his uncles and younger cousin run their grocery store. White customers expect to be served before blacks and make their displeasure angrily apparent when the Sicilians fail to do so. ...Log In or Sign Up to Read More
Junior Library Guild
Reviewed on March 10, 2009
More than simple historical fiction, is a beautifully written novel about some of humanity's darkest tendencies. Donna Jo Napoli effortlessly works research and era-appropriate language into her writing, transporting readers back to a different time and perspective. The most recent immigrant of his family, Calogero struggles to adapt to American life in Louisianadodging panthers, eating muskrat, and learning why blacks can't eat in the ice cream saloon. Having been r...Log In or Sign Up to Read More
