2015
Homeland & Home: The Immigrant Experience
Something About America
Maria Testa
Audience:
Ages 12+
Inspired by actual events, this story written in free verse starts 10 years after the narrator’s family fled the fires of ethnic hatred in Kosova, Yugoslavia – long enough for the narrator to have transformed herself into a typical American schoolgirl. Her parents continue to feel like foreigners, and she grows impatient with what she perceives as their refusal to assimilate. Then an ugly incident in a nearby town changes everything, forcing each member of this refugee family to consider what being an American truly means. The book has received many awards, including: * New York Public Library Best Books for the Teen Age * International Reading Association Young Adult Choices * Bank Street College Best Children’s Books of the Year * Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA) Poetry Pick * Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Bigotry and Human Rights Outstanding Book Awards, Honorable Mention * Boston Authors Club, Julia Ward Howe Award Finalist * Maine Literary Award
About the Author
Maria Testa was born in Hartford, Connecticut, grew up in and around Providence, Rhode Island, and now lives in Portland, Maine with her husband and two sons. She received bachelor’s degrees in Sociology and American Civilization from Brown University and a J.D. from Yale Law School. After graduation, she expatriated to Dublin, Ireland where she lived at the YWCA and decided to be a writer. She has written five middle school/Young Adult novels, three picture books for younger children, and a book of short stories about baseball.
