In this delightful historical novel by David Biro, a young boy from a small town in Italy is discovered to have leukemia and can only be helped by a bone marrow transplant. The search for a donor brings up secrets from the past and stretches across the ocean to a rabbi in the USA. I found this to be another one of those novels that I couldn't put down and wanted to keep reading. It is also one where the characters come alive to the reader and linger long after you have put down the book.
Characters from the Book
- Luca- A fascinating young boy who comes down with a dreaded disease. Luca has a wonderful imagination and a "friend" he talks to that only he can see. His parents were killed when he was very young and he lives with his grandparents in a small Italian village.
- Giovanni- Luca's grandfather who loves his grandson dearly, but is haunted by a decision he made years ago during the war when he found his son Paolo (Luca's father) and brought him home to raise him as his own.
- Nina- A young nurse who is very dedicated and helps to lead the search to find a donor for Luca. This search turns into a life changing event for her.
- Rabbi Joseph Neiman- A rabbi in Brooklyn, New York who is struggling with his faith. When he works to help a young girl in his community find a bone marrow donor, he has his own marrow tested and finds he is a match for a young boy in Italy. What secrets will be revealed to show how a young Catholic boy can have Jewish genes?
- Sarah- The wife of the rabbi who has very bad feelings toward anyone from Italy, where her grandparents were captured and sent to a concentration camp during the war.
- Samuel- The son of the rabbi. Samuel makes friends with the young boy from Italy.
The Book on Amazon
Lessons from the Book
The book is a work of historical fiction, which contains lessons for us all. The book challenges our identities and shows how as humans, we are really more alike than we are different. This is a wonderful novel which I highly recommend.
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This DOES sound like a wonderful novel, Mary Beth. I am definitely putting this on my To Read list. Stories featuring children always appeal to me.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a wonderful book with very interesting, realistic characters. I always love a fiction book that I feel teaches me something in addition to "entertaining" me. That certainly makes them a cut above others. Thanks for the review and the awesome recommendation.
ReplyDeleteIt's going on my list right now.....I love Historical novels! Thanks Mary Beth for reviewing this one for me. I look forward to turning these pages.
ReplyDeleteThis is going on my list as well, Mary Beth! It sounds like the perfect blend - entertaining, engrossing, thought-provoking, and with memorable characters who become very real for readers. Thanks so much for sharing your review and introducing me to this historical novel!
ReplyDeleteThis book sounds really good. I know I'd enjoy it. Reading something I couldn't put down would be a problem lol, because I know I would be the same as you and resist stopping. Thanks for the intro to another interesting book.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds a lovely interesting book to read. Especially in winter it is a joy to curl up with a good book like this and just become engrossed in it.Thank you for a great review!
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