Something About America

Title: Something About America
Author: Maria Testa
ISBN: Hardcover: 0-7636-2528-0; Paperback: 978-0-7636-2528-3
Publisher: Hardcover: Candlewick, August, 2005; Paperback: Candlewick, August, 2007
Binding, Price: Hardcover: $14.99; Paperback: $6.99
Ages 12 and up

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Link to Primary Source Materials for the Novel
(Documents and Film Clips on the Historical Event Featured in the Novel)

Description: This isn’t supposed to happen in America. Inspired by actual events, this story starts ten years after the narrator’s family fled the fires of ethnic hatred in Kosova, Yugoslavia – long enough for the narrator to have transformed herself into a typical American schoolgirl. Her parents continue to feel like foreigners, and she grows impatient with what she perceives as their refusal to assimilate. Then an ugly incident in a nearby town changes everything, forcing each member of this refugee family to consider what being an American truly means.

Awards & Accolades

• New York Public Library Best Books for the Teen Age
• International Reading Association Young Adult Choices
• Bank Street College Best Children’s Books of the Year
• Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA) Poetry Pick
• Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Bigotry and Human Rights Outstanding Book Awards, Honorable Mention
• Boston Authors Club, Julia Ward Howe Award Finalist
• Maine Literary Award
• One School, One Book, Wheaton, IL and South Portland, ME

“Testa writes stories told in poems of surpassing beauty, fragility, and depth . . . Riveting – and tender.” -Kirkus Reviews

“Maria Testa’s stirring words enhance a sense of the characters’ experiences and emotions, particularly those of a young person caught between cultures.” -Booklist

“Simplicity of language is a powerful counterpoint to the emotional complexity of the immigrants’ story, and classrooms of mixed reading abilities and/or second-language learners may find this an ideal vehicle.” -The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books