Customer Reviews

The King of Mulberry Street

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Assumptions are made to be broken. Here are a few of mine that have recently been put through the ringer. I always assumed that if a kid wanted a good (not mediocre, not bland) book on early 20th century immigrants, they should probably stick with Patricia Reilly Giff and look no further. Here's another assumption: If you asked me what kinds of books Donna Jo Napoli writes I would've said teen retellings of fairy tales. If you had asked me if she were capable of convincingly written historical fiction I would have adroitly curled my lip and cast ye aside. At this moment in time, however, these assumptions have shattered and lie piled up about my feet. I hold here in my hand "The King of Mulberry Street" (which makes my typing a bit complicated, but at least my point is clear). Though I'm a children's librarian, I avoid historical fiction like the plague. That is, unless the book has been recommended to me as something particularly extraordinary. This book has earned every drop of praise it has ever received and will deserve future drops as well. It's well-written, honest-to-goodness interesting (especially towards the financially inclined), and not half as depressing as it could have been. A plus for those kids who may soon be forced to read it.

Nine-year-old Beniamino knows that life in Italy may not be perfect for a Jewish kid like himself, but he's still taken completely by surprise when he's forced to leave. His mother has shipped him off on the nearest cargo ship for America with a pair of beautiful new shoes on his feet and the advice to "simply survive". The boy is shocked but smart. His arrival at Ellis Island consists mostly of him attempting to get shipped back to Napoli and failing. After receiving some advice to head for Mulberry Street, where many Napoletanos have settled, Beniamino (now known simply as Dom) has only one goal in life. He must somehow find a way back too Italy. This dream, however, wanes in the face of learning the lay of the land. Here Dom can start his own business, make friends, and truly becomes the king of Mulberry Street.

You think of street urchins in 1892 New York and the images conjured up aren't pleasant. After getting the gist of the book, I had consigned myself to a deeply depressing read in which a boy gets beaten down by an inhuman system and somehow keeps his self-respect. Blah blah blah. I've obviously been reading too much poorly written historical fiction. Ms. Napoli obviously had an entirely different course of action in her mind when she wrote this book. Knowing only that her own grandfather arrived in New York as a five-year-old stowaway and became a successful young businessman, Napoli has given us the history of a relative as it could have occurred. Life obviously isn't a bed of roses for Dom right at the start, but this is one smart cookie we're dealing with. He comes up with a great way of making money and is so brilliant at it that he is able to clothe, feed, and board his friends. Some parents go out and buy their kids the children's version of the book, "Rich Dad, Poor Dad". They would do better (if fiscal responsibility is really their goal) to hand them a copy of "The King of Mulberry Street" instead.

There's a somewhat violent scene near the end of the book that cautious parents may wish to eye. Just the same, I felt that Napoli related the incident with language that tells what happens without dwelling on it. Parents reading this book may gasp at references to things that sail high above their children's heads. Dom's mother had him out of wedlock and probably pays for his eventual passage in a less than reputable manner. Kids, however, will not understand this in the least. They will understand when one of the main characters dies off-screen, but in spite of that person's somewhat gruesome death, readers won't have to suffer through it point blank. It is a very difficult thing to balance the horror of a despicable time with all the good that existed as well. If ever there was a book that took place in 1892, this is it.

Napoli does not credit the sources she consulted for this book, and this is a real shame. Due to the fact that our hero is a young Jewish immigrant from Italy, I can't imagine that there is much information about such people out there. Napoli says in her Acknowledgments that she got help from the Archivio Renato Maestro in Venice when she wanted information on the history of Jews in Italy. A small bibliography of books kids could look at instead would have been nice. It could have included Deborah Hopkinson's remarkable, "Shutting Out the Sky: Life in the Tenements of New York (1880-1924)" or even "Immigrant Kids" by Russell Freedman. Ah well. A good opportunity lost.

Altogether, "The King of Mulberry Street" (NOT to be confused with "Project Mulberry") was an entirely pleasant surprise. Napoli's departure from fairy tales to realism is so effortless that I've little doubt that authors already well-established in the field will quake a little at the thought of her future publications. If you've a kid who loved "The Toothpaste Millionaire" but also likes stories where children survive on their own in the big city (ala "Slake's Limbo"), a little "King" might prick their interest. Great surprisingly not-depressing stuff.

THE KING OF MULBERRY STREET by Donna Jo Napoli is a fascinating, at times heartbreaking, account of the adventures and ultimate success of a young Italian immigrant in the world of New York, 1882. Dom's story begins with another name, in another place, the center of his loving but desperately poor extended Jewish family in Naples. Illegitimate, his presence costs his mother the opportunity of yet another job that might put food on the family table. A few days later, Dom's mother sends her son off on a boat to America as a stowaway, an ambiguous action that fuels the rest of the story.

In America, Dom's only thought is to return to Naples. To do that, however, he needs to survive the hungry and homeless who would steal his only pair of shoes, and the ruthless patroni who would press him into service that is little better than slavery. Dom figures out quickly that the only way to survive is to acquire a band of allies: another street orphan, a patroni-controlled triangle player and a shopowner. In essence, Napoli's book is about the act of creating family, and doing so can eventually turn a place into home.

THE KING OF MULBERRY STREET is written for children and Dom never fails to sound like a nine-year-old child. Nevertheless, this is an emotionally sophisticated book. While it takes both Dom and the reader some time to understand and accept that his mother was not left behind by mistake, but deliberately sent a child off to America on his own, Napoli never shies away from the ramifications of this act. Nor does she make the mother inherently evil --- it's clear that Dom's mother does love him, both from the early chapters of the book and from the lengths she goes to in order to give him a small measure of protection. This protection, a new pair of shoes, surfaces and resurfaces throughout the book. In fact, THE KING OF MULBERRY STREET is filled with complex and nuanced characters who make the reader care about their fate.

Napoli's prose is particularly engrossing, and her nineteenth century New York setting feels vivid and authentic. A note at the end of the novel, explaining that some of the events are based on stories told about her own grandfather, adds further poignancy to the novel. THE KING OF MULBERRY STREET is a book whose story and characters stay with you long after you've finished the last page. The lessons it contains speak to adults as well as to children, and will encourage readers to think about questions of right and wrong in the context of survival.

This is a moving and unforgettable book, and one that I highly recommend.

--- Reviewed by Paula Jolin

Donna Jo Napoli's story of "The King of Mulberry Street" coaxes readers to put aside household chores & read 'straight through'. This is history that makes the pulse race, is honest in its ugliness yet carries seeds of hope.

Nine-year-old Beniamino's mother finagles his passage to America on a ship that carries him away from the security of a poor but close extended family & their epigrams. These 'charms' of his Nonna later become like beads of a rosary for the Jewish boy from Napoli.: "Chi tene mamma, nun chiagne" - - or - - "whoever has a mother doesn't cry" & "anyone who feeds me is like a father to me."

The first-ever pair of shoes given the boy on departure become another talisman in the months when he tries to escape the many pitfalls looming ahead. The shoes protect him at Ellis Island, and later as his fate is decided while he claws his way through filth and fears toward freedom.

Dom, as he is now known, becomes an escape artist. The dangers of living on the streets in New York in 1892 seem terrifying but he is motivated by an intense desire to find his way back to Italy where the challenges of life fortunately trained him in survival. Struggling in America without knowing the language is made more difficult because he must hide the fact that he is a Jew. The cover photograph shows refuse barrels, not unlike Dom's sanctuary for the first night in his new world. It became another night of remembering and weeping. Today when identity theft and decisions about illegal immigrants are of growing concern, author Donna Jo Napoli stirs our imaginations with fiction
that has truly contemporary overtones.

Reviewer mcHAIKU is convinced that someone is always telling stories, year after year, one generation to the next. We are grateful that the 'threads' not available directly from family members are often available through collected oral histories. (SEE the author's "Afterword" in "The King of Mulberry Street").
All ages will rejoice that these bedraggled, unprotected children, gain street smarts, yet somehow bond with a belief in "MAGARI" - - "You get - - you give."

I loved this book. I am reading it aloud to my 10 and 7 year old sons and they like it. Yes, there is a sad, violent episode,but that just makes it more realistic. I especially enjoyed the entrepreneurial spirit of the boys. I learned much about the immigrant experience,the prejudice of the immigrants towards each other, the life of the street children and Jewish traditions. Read it and give it to your kids to read, ages 10 and up.

You can't beat this story for a great Young Adult historical novel. The author, who is always good no matter what she pens, really gives the reader a very clear and evocative picture of just what life was like for immigrants arriving from various countries to Ellis Island and further into the streets of New York. Our young hero and budding entrepreneur, Dom from Naples, soon learns the hard way how to make his way in a tough poor part of the city, struggling to eat and having to hide his Jewish faith amongst Italian and Irish Catholics. Beaten, robbed, sleeping an a barrel in a filthy alley, Dom uses his head and his strong heart to soon become the King of Mulberry street. This is a precious and poignant novel that will leave you breathless and in appreciation of just how hard the times were then, and how very hard the immigrants had to work to make their way in the new world. I would recommend this to all adults and teenagers who just love a good story. It will also leave you very appreciative of the spoiled world we live in now.

It's been a long time since I read a book in one sitting. A tremendous tale...you truly feel like you are living the life of a Five Points orphan in the 1890s. Beautiful work.

The King of Mulberry Street is a great story of a young Italian boy in the late 1800's who arrives in America alone, hidden on a cargo boat. My students really connected with him and got a better understanding of what some of our ancesters may have gone through.
Margo

Generally I don't read children's fiction, and I only got this book to satisfy my adult librarian daughter who suggested I would like it. She was certainly right. I don't know what I thought authors were putting into children's books, but I was surprised to find not only excellent writing, but a great story here. I am so glad to know that such books are not watered down to all sunshine and lolly pops. The young boy who finds himself thrust into this country alone in the early twentieth century faces hardships and heartbreak and lives to overcome these trials of life. There are lessons to be learned here and what a find place to get them--in a good book. I highly recommend this one.

What would you do if you were stranded in a country where you didn't speak the language or know anyone? Well the King of Mulberry street is about an opportunistic kid who faces these as well as many challenges. This book was a good story but didn't really have too much suspense or action in it. I didn't have trouble putting it down but wouldn't rate is as poorly written. I can see how it could get young adult readers into the genre of immigrant fiction, but as an adult - it wasn't overly cheesy or unrealistic.

This book is not appropriate for children under 13 for it has a scent of violence. Otherwise it's fun and interesting historical fiction. I'm 8 and was VERY disapointed with the end.