Stones in Water

Stones in Water
Donna Jo Napoli
Published in 1997 by Scholastic Inc.

Summary: Stones in Water begins with a boy named Roberto and his friends as well as his brother head to the movies. While there, German soldiers come and cart the boys there off to a camp. They make them come with them and are taken on a train to some camps where they were forced to work in the freezing cold. Many died and some survived. Only Roberto and his jewish friend Enzo/Samuele stay together throughout the novel. The two boys live to see and help a jewish woman and her sister who are brought into a camp and nearly starve to death until Enzo is beaten to death, at which time Roberto makes a run for it and tries to escape. He lives in the whild for a couple of days until he comes to a town that has seen the war and many of the people are dead. He meets a Ukrainian boy who helps him escape from another town they reach. Roberto finds a boat and sails for awhile until he is "captured" by an Italian soldier who has deserted his cause and his place in war. Together, they travel to find a better life, to serve in the war but for a better cause than they have both experienced.

Review:
I liked this book when I first started but as it kept going, I didn't like it as much which is a little wierd because that's not usually what happens when I read books. I did love how Roberto found out more about himself as the novel went on. He became a brave boy who does everything he can to help himself and Enzo stay alive. This isn't all he does though. He helps the girl who is starving when he himself already does not have enough to eat. He never gives up. That is what I love about this book. Roberto did all it took to keep going and enduring even when there was no reason to keep going. His best friend died and he is dying of cold and hunger, yet he keeps going even when he meets a wolf and soldiers and is captured by a village. He doesn't seem to think that he has much courage but I don't know if I could have done what he did. I thought a lot of it was so sad and I didn't really like the ending because it didnt' seem to really end for me. You knew where they were headed and that is probably a different journey but it wasn't a definite ending. So all in all, I loved Roberto's courage and the friendship that he showed to not only Enzo but to the boy he meets in the village and the soldier in the boat with him. I wish I could learn to be like Roberto. I'm glad I read this also because I was able to learn more about World War II and the other side of it, more than the holocaust view of it. I learned a lot when I read this. I am glad that I did.

Warnings:
There is some violence in this book because it is about war time. There are people who die and people who are beaten. Some of the characters experience horrible times of cold and hunger. Sometimes, it can be hard to take it all in, all of the terrible things that happened to these people.