From: Ginny Moore Kruse <gmkruse>
Date: Wed, 27 Mar 2002 08:23:44 -0600

The appeal to this book for me is one of local interest. Living near the setting of Youngstown, Ohio is interesting, and also ironic; how strange to have a book of historical fiction about Ohio, not written by a local author!

I was able to ask a coworker, who grew up in Youngstown, about the authenticity of the text. She was able to pinpoint and relate to specific street names in the story, and vouched for its overall accuracy. Even though she is Italian, she could also relate to many of the "immigrant experiences", as her grandparents were from Italy. She got quite a few chuckles from many of the episodes, because they were familiar stories her grandparents would have related to her, or she knew them herself. For example, even though she grew up in Youngstown in the 1940's, her grandmother raised chickens in her yard; and her father made homemade soap! So, this story unlocked many fond memories for her.

Ellen Finan Warren, Ohio
Received on Wed 27 Mar 2002 08:23:44 AM CST