BIBLIOGRAPHY
Napoli, Donna Jo. 1997. Stones in Water. New York: Dutton Children’s Books. ISBN 0525458425
SUMMARY
Roberto is a young Italian teenager growing up in Venice. His best friends are Memo, a fast-talking ladies man who always seems to have extra money from random odd jobs, and Samuele, a Jewish boy from the area designated as the Jewish ghetto that both Memo and Roberto grew up going to school with. Italy has joined the war on the side of the Axis Powers, allying with Germany and Japan. The country is poor, many men are out of work and many boys are encouraged to pick up odd jobs for money or to train in local soldier camps. School is optional. One evening, Roberto, Memo, Samuele, and Roberto’s older brother, Sergio, go to the movies to see an American film. During the movie, German troops march into the theater and collect the movie-goers, all boys. They group the boys according to age, separating Roberto from his brother, and crowd them onto a train. The train takes them out of the country to unfamiliar lands. The boys are then divided by city and randomly grouped; a clever trick allows Roberto and Samuele to stay together. They are shipped from work farm to work farm, digging landing fields for German war planes. Many boys die from hardship or are killed for running away; they encounter Jewish prisoners fenced in like animals. Samuele’s Jewish heritage is protected by Roberto who calls him by a less Jewish name, Enzo, but he is killed inside the second camp anyway during a squabble over stolen boots and blankets. Roberto escapes the camp alone, into a Ukrainian wilderness in the dead of winter. He survives in the woods and discovers a town that has been massacred by German troops. A small boy aids him into the next town where he once again must escape from men who might kill him if they find out he is Italian. He meets an Italian soldier, Maurizio, who has deserted the army, not able to stomach the atrocities committed. Maurizio is going to join a group known as the partigianos; this group sabotages war efforts in an attempt to stop the war. They also help smuggles Jews to safer territory. Roberto wishes to join this group; he wants to help Jewish people like Samuele, he wants to help stop the war, and most of all, he wants to go home. Roberto and Maurizio become travelling companions as they sail into their next adventure.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Donna Jo Napoli takes readers back to World War II, delving into the harsh reality of the German occupation of many European countries and introduces unfamiliar readers to the roots of the Holocaust. Napoli, however, takes a rather unique approach to this topic by not choosing to tell the story from the eyes of a Jewish youth, but from that of a Christian, Italian youth. Readers are allowed to view the other side of the War from an ignorant narrator, so that facts can be learned and events can be witnessed through eyes as unfamiliar with the happenings as we are. In the story, Italy has recently entered World War II on the side of the Axis Powers, and we see a poor country that hoped to gain prosperity by entering the war instead growing poorer. The boys that are old enough train in soldier camps and work odd jobs to help keep food on their families’ tables. The main character, Roberto, has an older brother who is likely to join the army soon and a mother who is opposed to the war and who actively protests it.
In the midst of all of this, Roberto and his friends, Memo, and Samuele, a Jewish boy, have time to think of girls and going to the movies. Readers can relate to these young characters who know there is a war going on in the world around them, but still do not understand the reality of it all. Instead, they have mundane concerns. Their innocence is clearly expressed as they proceed to the movies, walking outright with Samuele, who wears an armband with the Star of David, which indicates that he is Jewish. Roberto’s older brother immediately recognizes the problems they might have and instructs Samuele to remove his armband, in contrast to Memo’s statement that, “No one’s going to bother with three school boys.” (Napoli 11)
Napoli moves the plot along at a brisk pace, introducing the setting, and main and supporting characters within the first few pages. Her conversational tone creates a work that flows smoothly and as a result can be easily read by younger audiences.
The stakes in the plot are advanced quickly as the boys are kidnapped from the movies and forced aboard a train going to an unknown destination. Napoli heightens the readers’ sense of fear as Roberto is separated from his older brother whom he views as safety. The smells of the train and the passengers further deepen the suspense and feelings of unrest and unease. The odor of urine and sweat and fear are prominent. We do not know what is going to happen. Boys around them begin to panic and try to leave the train. Their murders are quick and brutal. Napoli does not dwell on the scene of the three boys who tried to escape being shot; it happens as almost a flash, which makes it all the more realistic, because it seems like a flash to Roberto as well. In a blink, three boys near his age were shot dead at close range. Roberto is not only being kidnapped; he is in mortal danger. Younger audiences do not often think about their own mortality, and Napoli slaps them in the face with it: quick and effective.
Suddenly, Samuele’s heritage, which seemed merely an annoyance in the beginning of the story with armbands that must be hidden and parental discretion about being seen in the Jewish ghetto, becomes an important and dangerous fact. The Nazis might kill Samuele if they find out he is Jewish; quick-thinking Memo blocks Samuele from view as he relieves himself so that no one will see his circumcision. Such minor facts as circumcision and food restrictions are introduced by the author as parts of Jewish heritage. No one must know that Samuele does not eat pork, or even that his name is Samuele. The idea of concentration camps is introduced, first as myth, because Roberto does not truly believe that Nazis would slaughter a race of people simply because of their nationality and religious convictions, and then as cold fact, after Roberto experiences what being in a work camp is like and sees Jewish prisoners in an animal pin.
The pact of brotherhood between Roberto and Samuele is solidified in their protective actions toward one another. They endure punishments and beatings to stay together. When Samuele’s heritage is discovered by one of the boys in camp and that boy blackmails Samuele, stealing his food, Roberto shares what little he has with Samuele. Samuele seems to take the place of Roberto’s older brother, telling him religious stories to help Roberto sleep at night and making sure Roberto has enough food. Readers begin to bond with the characters as they suffer through temperatures so cold their extremities turn blue with only ratty blankets and clothing worn to their limits to keep them warm. Other boys in the camp die from exposure or illness; some try to escape and are brought back by locals loyal to the Nazis. Boys who show physical weakness are shot at close range by soldiers.
Readers are kept on edge as Roberto and Samuele try to stay together as they are transferred to other work camps. The passage of time is uncertain; the boys have no calendars, and they do not speak the language of the soldiers. In fact, the trains that brought the boys to the work camps picked up many boys from throughout Italy and there is no common dialect outside of what is called “school Italian.” As a result, most of the boys do not even speak the same language, which is a mean to keep the boys from socializing and building camaraderie. Roberto and Samuele sympathize with the Jewish prisoners being kept in pins by the soldiers, especially Samuele who feels he should be pinned as well, and begin sharing their meager food portions with them.
Roberto was a very innocent character at the beginning of the story, more innocent than his friends, in fact; which is clearly depicted in his thoughts, words and deed, and in his friends’ actions and efforts to protect him. After Samuele is killed in a scuffle over warm boots and clothing, Roberto’s inner turmoil and loss of naiveté is profound. He runs from the camp without much hope of escape, maybe even hoping that he would be killed like Samuele, but instead actually escapes. He is lost in a frozen, winter wilderness where he eats bugs, battles hunger-crazed wolves and nearly freezes to death, constantly thinking of his lost friends and family. Readers feel Roberto’s hopelessness turn to strength as he fights to survive. He remembers Samuele’s stories and the swift-thinking of Memo and Sergio. Roberto matures over the course of the novel, taking into himself what he has learned from his experiences, his friends and his brother.
When he stumbles into a massacred town and takes under his wing a small boy who has somehow survived the slaughter, Roberto displays survival skills and self-reliance that he has not shown before this. He searches the houses of the murdered people, scavenging for food, clothing and other useful supplies. He builds fires and pieces together meals from odds and ends. Language barriers once again become a frustration. Roberto is in the Ukraine where no one speaks his language, and he must not speak to them for fear of them learning his nationality. Italian troops are not welcome in that country. Readers experience with Roberto what it is like to not be able to communicate and understand how easily the simple act of communication is taken for granted. In the work camps, Roberto could only openly communicate with Samuele, who spoke his language. With Samuele’s death, Roberto was afraid he would forget how to speak.
When he is captured a second time, the small boy helps him to evade his captors but it is up to Roberto to find his own means of getting out of town. He stows aboard a truck and later finds himself a boat. In Venice, Roberto learned to swim and steer a gondola, so he is very capable at handling a boat. When Roberto stumbles across Maurizio, a deserter from the army, he is finally able to speak again. He learns where he is exactly and what is truly happening in the War in other places. He finds a companion in Maurizio and a new mission. Though, Roberto wishes to return home, this new, stronger Roberto wants to assist others, people like Samuele, in the War. He wants to stop the suffering that he has seen.
Stones in Water is a powerful story told in a manner that younger readers can easily follow because of its smooth, flowing prose, relatable characters and engaging use of character voice. The time period is captured as a snapshot told from the eyes of an ignorant character being educated on what is happening around him through firsthand experience that readers get to experience with him. As a result, not only are readers involved in the story, they are never overwhelmed with more information than they can process because Roberto, too, must process the information. Napoli has created a useful, entertaining, as well as accurate, historical piece that will teach young readers about a certain time in history by making them feel as if they are part of the story. She has created a believable character that is true to his heritage and time period, but is still relatable to readers. They may be able to recognize themselves in Roberto, in how he respects his parents, looks to his older brother for safety, protects his friends, and initially does not understand prejudice and cruelty.
Readers are in for an emotional adventure that does not end with Stones in Water. If readers are interested in learning more about the time period and the author’s sources, an author’s note is provided at the end of the work which details useful historical resources.
REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
PW's boxed review called this story of a Venetian gondolier's son and two friends, one Jewish, who are forcibly taken by Nazi soldiers, "gripping and meticulously researched." Ages 10-14.--Publishers Weekly.
Grade 4-9. Napoli, who has written in a variety of genres, fantasy, mystery, realistic fiction, legends, demonstrates that she has mastered historical fiction as well. Sneaking into the cinema to see an American Western during World War II has grave consequences for Roberto, a Venetian middle-school student, his brother, and two friends. The young male audience is trapped by German soldiers and transported by train out of Italy as cheap forced labor. The first project, constructing a tarmac, goes smoothly, despite wretched living conditions. Separated from his older brother, timid Roberto relies on his quick-thinking friend, Samuele. Both realize the necessity of hiding Samuele's Jewish identity from their captors and fellow prisoners. When a "shipment" of Polish Jews arrive and are penned near the labor group, Roberto uses his ingenuity to help feed two Jewish girls with his meager rations. After Samuele is beaten to death trying to save Roberto's scavenged boots, Roberto escapes. He is a displaced gondolier trying to navigate his boat on a modern Styx, a hellish river journey with slim chances for survival. Few books view the Holocaust from this vantage point; few readers are familiar with the Venetian/Italian connection to the work camps. Others will be interested in this story as survivalism from the worst kind of nightmare. Many children will be ensnared by the author's paean to the art and value of storytelling. Samuele's legacy is the nourishing stories that keep Roberto alive. An intense, gripping tale. --Marilyn Payne Phillips, University City Public Library, MO, SLJ.
From Napoli (Trouble on the Tracks, p. 144, etc.), a powerful novel set in a vividly realized wartime milieu. Roberto, a Venetian boy who is about to graduate from middle school, is so eager to attend a rare American movie that he makes a worrisome bargain with a boy who is always in trouble. On top of this small sin, he attends the movie with a Jewish boy, Samuele, an unwise idea when restrictions and dangers are multiplying. German soldiers enter the theater and capture all the boys; at first, Roberto can't make sense of what is happening to him. Transported to desolate regions, the boys are forced into labor building a tarmac; food is scarce, the climate is life-threatening, and survival seems remote. Now called Enzo, Samuele, who has a deeper understanding of the situation and who constantly watches for a chance to defy his captors, tells Roberto stories that become crucial to his sanity and lend a semblance of humanity to their desperate situation. When Roberto escapes, the book becomes a memorable survival story: He learns not to speak and give away his nationality, puzzles out the changing borders and alliances of the war, eats slugs in snow-covered streams to survive, and battles wild animals. Finally, by participating in the partigiano, who sabotage the war and work to hide endangered Jews, Roberto goes from victim to hero, seizing control of his life for a noble cause. Riveting. (Fiction. 12-14)--Kirkus Reviews.
An affecting coming-of-age novel with a vivid and undeniable message about the human costs of war." --The Horn Book
--An ALA Notable Book
--An ALA Best Book for Young Adults
--New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age
--An NCSS Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies
CONNECTIONS
For readers who are interested in historical fiction featuring the Holocaust or other experiences that occurred during World War II, they may be interested in the following titles:
Napoli, Donna Jo. 2006. Fire in The Hills. New York: Dutton Juvenile. ISBN 978-0525477518
Spinelli, Jerry. 2010. Milkweed. New York: Knopf Books for Young Readers. ISBN 978-0375861475
Elliot, L.M. 2003. Under a War-Torn Sky. New York: Hyperion Book CH. ISBN 978-0786817535
Hughes, Dean. 2003. Soldiers Boys. New York: Simon Pulse. ISBN 978-0689860218
who is the antagonist
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