Customer Reviews

Stones in Water

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Stones in Water is book of many emotions; it begins in a small village outside of Venice, Italy. Roberto, a Gondolier's son, and his best friend Samuele are captured one day by German soldiers in a movie theater. They are taken to Nazi work camps where they are pushed into hard labor and grueling work. As the book continues work gets harder and one day the boys are moved to a camp in Ukraine. Trouble comes when a boy at the work camp discovers a dangerous secret about Samuele that could get Roberto and Samuele both killed.

When Roberto escapes out of the camp his journey home begins. He must battle rough terrain and harsh weather as well as Nazi soldiers storming cities to get back home to those he loves. With Enzo already dead from the cold Roberto thinks he has nothing to loose. He runs and runs not thinking about death but about perseverance and to never give up. He makes do with nature and survives eating sea creatures and sleeping in trees. While traveling through Russia trying to get to the Mediterranean Sea, he uses methods Enzo has taught him, and tries to survive in this deadly climate.

With Enzo gone he has no company, but While Roberto is traveling he comes upon two friends Rigazzo and Maurizio who help him travel land and sea and try to help
this unhappy gondolier son get back to his loving family, or will Roberto make a terrifying decision that could change his life forever.

My first reaction in Stones in Water was the friendship. Roberto and Samuele would literally do anything for each other. Even if it was a deadly situation It was all the way from trading food, to acting like they weren't friends, to hiding that Samuele was a Jew, sacrificing his life to be with each other, and being a great friend and telling good night stories to each other because they missed there family so much. It even showed about making friends when it is most important. Even when Roberto was tired, hungry, and cold he still went out of his way to be friendly to Rigazzo. This book really brought out the true meaning of friendship. Most of all, this book was passionate it really showed what life was like in labor camps and it almost felt like you were experiencing there situations.

Another reaction that I had was survival. Roberto did what every he could to stay alive. He ate disgusting sea creatures, slept in trees, and hid in the snow. The only reason he knew these methods was because of Samuele, Samuele taught him many tings things that kept him alive.

The last thing that I observed in the book was symbolism. The German boots represented so many different things. The most important thing to Roberto was that they reminded him of Samuele because Samuele was wearing them when he died. In addition, they kept Roberto worm. The last symbol of the German boots was a dreadful symbol, which almost caused Roberto to die. This is so, because when Roberto was in a village many people thought he was a German soldier and shot at him and almost got him killed.

I defiantly recommend this book because it is very real. When I was reading his book it almost felt like I was also a prisoner of war. It is a well written book that is very descriptive and emotional.

This story is set during World War II. Roberto is an Italian Catholic. One day he goes to a movie with his older brother and two friends, one of them a Jewish boy named Samuele. At the movie, soldiers gather up all of the boys and send them off to work camps to help the war effort. Roberto and Samuele are separated from the other two, and are sent to work digging ditches and building holding pens for Jewish prisoners. Roberto and Samuele, now calling himself Enzo because it is a more Catholic-sounding name, are terrified that their guards will find out that Samuele is Jewish.

Conditions in the camp are bad, especially after another boy finds out Samuele's secret and takes all of his food in exchange for keeping quiet. Roberto's first priority is keeping his friend safe. His next priority becomes finding a way to escape and get back home again.

I hadn't known until I read this book what was going on in Italy at this time and how the people there were affected by the war. I liked that the end of this book isn't happy. The author tried hard not to spare you from knowing some of the difficulties of living at this time.

A Review by Josh

Stones in Water is about the adventure of Roberto, a 13 year old boy and his friend Sameule, who is also known as Enzo during WWII. The story starts when Roberto, his brother Sergio, and his friends Memo and Sameule are kidnapped at a movie theater by German soldiers. All of them are split up except for Sameule, who is now Enzo, and Roberto. Roberto and Enzo face many different trials and work at a prisoner of war camp. Roberto ends up escaping from the camp by meeting a group of Italian deserter soldiers and he follows them to Ukraine. While Roberto is in Ukraine he meets a boy and they fight to stay alive during the cold winter.

I really liked this book because of how it was based around a snowy area, which is my favorite type of surrounding. The book has a wonderful adventurous storyline. I like the main characters in this book because they are very nice.

The book puts you in a first person point of view on WWII, which really helps you to understand the trials of WWII. I would recommend this book to everyone because of how well it is written.

This book was excellent. In the story, a boy(Roberto) and his friends are forced to leave their town and do slave labor in German work camps. His only link to his past life is his Jewish friend, Samuele. After his friend is beaten to death, roberto can't stand his imprisonment any longer and escapes from the camp. He is in a country, Ukraine, which is at war with his Italy. Roberto must battle the freezing weather, being attacked by villagers and his subsequent bullet wound. Roberto finally is able to make progress toward his goal- the Black sea and home to Italy- when an Italian deserter, named Maurizio, finds him and makes Roberto paddle for him. After at least of week of not being able to speak to anyone, Roberto breaks down and talks to the soldier. Roberto finds out that maurizio wants to be a partiganio-someone who sabotages the war, and saves jews-and Roberto knows that he want to be a partiganio,too.
This book really brought world war 2 alive for me. I was so used to hearing stories of generals and battles, and of kids in germany. But I have never read about a kid in Italy during the war. The book doesn't sugarcaot how life was during the war. It tells of the hardships and dangers Roberto and Samuele endured, like freezing nights, hard labor, very little food and having to leave their families. This book has emotion, compasion and symbolism. Roberto has to make many moral decisions which could change his life-or kill him. An example of this is when Roberto decides to feed a jewish Polish girl who is starving even though he himself is close to exhaustion. Beside that, if he was caught he'd almost certainly be shot.

When Roberto sneaks away from home to watch a movie with some friends, he encounters nazi soldiers who take him away to all parts of Europe. Roberto is left alone with his friend Samuele or Enzo. Roberto remains strong througout his journey until his friends is frozen to death while in the cold harsh climate of Ukraine. Sad and angry for his friend, Roberto knows he does not want to die here. He runs away from the slave camp but amazingly he is not shot. Not yelled at, not bothered at all! He then survives the wilderness by using his survival instincts. Dodging soldiers, salvaging what ever he can from destroyed villages is all Roberto can do until he is befriended by an Italian soldier who helps him find the way home. Did he make it? Was he able to get through the rough waters of the Mediterranean? I read this book after a friend asked me these questions. After reading the book, I felt Roberto's pains and reliefs, and because of it, I enjoyed this suspenceful book. I rated this book 5 out of 5 stones which is what this book deserves!

I really got into this book. Roberto and Sameuel are captured by German Soldiers and sent to work at a work camp, putting in long hard hours and under fed. Roberto gets his insprition to survive through a small stone given to him by a young jewish girl. Roberto faces many trails with and without Samuel. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to all readers, young and not so young.

Stones in the Water
Book Review

By: Manoj Paladugu and Brendan Neville

Stones in the Water exceptional book with a very strong plot. This
book is a real page turner.
The introduction of this book is strong and suspenseful. It begins
when Memo makes a deal with Roberto. So then they go to the movies
their best friend Samule and Roberto's older brother Sergio. When they
get there the movie theater is raided by Nazis!!! So they get on a train to
whereabouts unknown..............

The rising action is suspenseful. Samule,Roberto,Seirgo,and Memo
get sent off to a Nazi work camp. Then realizing that Samule is in danger
because he is Jewish (Samule is a Jewish name) they change his name to
Enzo (Enzo is a christian name).But sadly a boy finds out that Enzo is really
Jewish he blackmails him. The letter is saying that if he doesn't give all
His food to him he will tell the Nazis that he is Jewish. If Samule's
secret gets out they may all be in grave danger....

Overall this is a good book with a strong plot. I recommend this book
for Middle School students and 5th graders. We hope you will enjoy this book!

Do you like fierce, blood packed, and gun-killing stories? Than you'll go crazy over Stones in Water. Donna Jo Napoli tells the story of 3 Italian boys (2 are brothers) and 1 Jewish boy who sneak into a movie, and get captured by Germans who ship the boys off to a German concentration camp. Because Sameule (the Jewish boy) is such a Jewish name they must change his name to Enzo.
This is a great book for children of all ages. This is a great book because it has lots of loving and caring. It is also a great book for young children because it tells them that you should never stop trying.
The downside to this book was the flashbacks because there was not a lot of them and they would have helped you understand the book better. But the strong point in this book is the loving and caring the characters give to each other. A few other books that you might want to take a look at are The Bravest Thing, Shark Shock, and The Magic Circle. Would Germans capture you because you snuck into a movie?

This book is about a boy named Roberto, his two friends Samuele and Memo, and his older brother Sergio who are taken from a movie and put on a train which is sent to sation where Roberto and Samuele were separated from Sergio and Memo. Samuele and Roberto are taken to a work camp.
Where Roberto and Samuele dig a tarmac for the Germans. They get sent to another work camp where unfortunatly Samuele is killed. So Roberto escapes from the camp, and meats a little ukrainian boy who leads him to a town where roberto takes a small boat and goes down a river so he can try to get to the black sea.
On the way there he meets an Italian soldier named Maurizio who helps him reach the coast of Bulgaria.
I thought that this was overall and ok book. I liked how the author really showed me what war was like and how terrible it really can be. Like when the German soldiers killed the boys that wanted to get off of the train.
She also showed me that even though, in such a terrible time where everthing seems to always be bad, that there is still hope.
The things I didnt like about the book was that We never really knew what happened to Roberto and Maurizio. Its like a huge cliffanger thats never answered.
I also disliked how Roberto wanted to head for the Black sea when he could head towards home. It would make more sense to go towards your destination than go farther away from it and then go to it.

This book will touch readers of all ages. An Italian boy is forced to face the troubles of war, and struggles to find his own way to survive and remain strong. Touching and well-written,... this is a fairly quick and easy reading, and is definitely worth it.