Customer Reviews

American Too

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I'm not sure why the other reviewers were quite so harsh about this book. I found it to be quite well done. My husband's family are Italians who came to America in the early 60s, and I found so much about this book to feel familiar---the food, the festival, the North End type neighborhood---I loved the pictures. Yes, Rosie wants to be American---is that so horrible? I bet many children of immigrants had moments where they just wanted to be like everyone else, and even, horror of horror, yelled about it and were a little unreasonable. Must every book show nothing but pride and acceptance of cultures, even one's one? I think the ending showed that Rosie did love her Italian culture and family, in her own way. I found this book very refreshing. In today's culture, Italians seem like one of the last cultural groups it's okay to make fun of or stereotype as Mafia or something, and this book didn't do that. I will be proud to read it to my own little girl, a second generation Italian-American.

This book is not historically accurate. Italian immigrant children, like most immigrants children, wanted to be true Americans, but they were not rude as the main character in this book is portrayed. The book makes a mockery of the traditions of many immigrants in order to make a politically correct point. The only thing that is probably historically accurate in this book is that the main character wore a costume in a procession. If you are looking for a book about children of Italian immigrants that is accurate try "Peppe" by this same author. It's interesting that she portrays the boy Peppe accurately, but the girl in "American Too" as a feminist.

Really, a terrible book. The text shows Rosie to be a selfish, rebellious brat who yells at her father and only cares about being American. She doesn't care a thing about the Italian culture. There's a stupid bit of love interest in the form of a boy named Jimmy, who gawks at Rosie and asks her to dance in the end. Of course, after shunning him for so long, she accepts the dance.
The illustrations are beautiful, but even they can't redeem this awful story. Buy something else.