Stones in Water by Donna Jo Napoli

Stones in Water by Donna Jo Napoli was published in 1997. This story is set during WWII and begins in Italy and is loosely based on the true experiences of Guido Fullin. During WWII, German soldiers kidnapped Italian teen boys and put them to work building air strips and doing other work for the Nazis. The boys were not treated well. They went hungry, were beaten, and many were killed. 

The main character of this story is Roberto, and he, his brother, and two of his friends - one being Jewish are taken prisoner and forced to labor for the Germans. He works to keep the Germans from discovering that his friend, Samuel is Jewish. 

During their captivity, Roberto learns a lot about the world, other people, and himself. He learns about survival and endurance. I enjoyed this story and will order the second book, Fire in the Hills to learn more about the Partigiano - Italian resistance fighters during WWII. 

Read to a child today even if that child is you. 

Friends of the NICU held an Usborne book drive and sent us 118 books. Usborne books are great for kids as they are durable and fun. 

The Mellow family donated these cute books in honor of their nephew Liam. These books will have a bookplate letting the family who receives them know that they are in his honor. 

Megan Smith sent these book.

We received monetary donations from Grace Olsen and Janet Gleue.

We greatly appreciate each and every donation to our book project. 

Link to our NICU book registry to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit so their parents can read to them while they grow. You can also donate gently used books to our project by sending them to me or to Angie. Email me for a mailing address. We can use both English and Spanish books. If you have a graduate of the NICU, or if you have a baby whose life you would like to honor by donating books to this project, let me know, and I can make a book plate with their name for the books you donate.