Alligator Bayou
  • Published: 15 June 2010
  • ISBN: 9780553494174
  • Imprint: RHUS Children's Books
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 288
  • RRP: $17.99

Alligator Bayou

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Donna Jo Napoli's books are bookstore favorites that also do very well in the school/library market. The King of Mulberry Street sold 11,000 copies in GLB, and this novel is also a sure-fire favorite for educational sales, with a special appeal for students of Italian-American history.

An unforgettable  novel, based on a true story, about racism against Italian Americans in the South in 1899.
 
Fourteen-year-old Calogero, his uncles, and his cousins are six Sicilians living in the small town of Tallulah, Louisiana, miles from any of their countrymen. They grow vegetables and sell them at their stand and in their grocery store.
 
Some people welcome the immigrants; most do not. Calogero's family is caught in the middle of tensions between the black and white communities. As Calogero struggles to adapt to Tallulah, he is startled and thrilled by the danger of midnight gator hunts in the bayou and by his powerful feelings for Patricia, a sharp-witted, sweet-natured black girl. Meanwhile, every day, and every misunderstanding between the white community and the Sicilians, bring Calogero and his family closer to a terrifying, violent confrontation.
 
In this affecting and unforgettable novel, Donna Jo Napoli's inspired research and spare, beautiful language take the classic immigrant story to new levels of emotion and searing truth. Alligator Bayou tells a story that all Americans should know.
  • Published: 15 June 2010
  • ISBN: 9780553494174
  • Imprint: RHUS Children's Books
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 288
  • RRP: $17.99
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About the author

Donna Jo Napoli

Donna Jo Napoli has written several novels for young adults involving Italian history, from the Renaissance to the World War II era. History wasn’t her favorite subject when she was young, but in writing stories based on historical events, Ms. Napoli has become fascinated by the people of many different times and places. Learning more about the past reveals that history has surprising bearing on the present. In the artistic and political world of Medici Florence, the author sees many similarities to our world today.

Ms. Napoli lives with her husband in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, where she is a college professor. She has written nearly sixty books for young readers, including STONES IN WATER, FIRE IN THE HILLS, THREE DAYS, THE MAGIC CIRCLE and THE PRINCE OF THE POND.

Also by Donna Jo Napoli

We Are Starlings
Treasury of Magical Tales From Around the World
In a Flash
Treasury of Bible Stories
Tales From the Arabian Nights
Treasury of Norse Mythology
Dark Shimmer
See all

Praise for Alligator Bayou

Praise for Alligator Bayou:

  • Gold Award: Parent's Choice
  • "Napoli's skillful pacing and fascinating detail combine in a gripping story that sheds cold, new light on Southern history and on the nature of racial prejudice." --Booklist
  • "This thought-provoking book draws its power from vivid depictions of late-19th-century Louisiana and little-known historical facts." --Publishers Weekly
  • "Napoli presents a moving, sobering story about an aspect of American immigration that is probably unknown to most readers...Historical events are smoothly integrated with vivid everyday details, strong characterizations, and genuine-sounding dialogue." --School Library Journal
  • "A wealth of detail of life at the bayou's edge makes the inexorably approaching violence all the more shocking...the ominous, eminently booktalkable theme should easily attract an audience." --BCCB