Titles reviewed here:

Andiamo, Weasel! - Rose Marie Grant/Jon Goodell

Italian Americans in World War II  - Peter L. Belmonte

Italian Stories stories by Joseph Papaleo

Being Italian: Culture on the Table - 2002 Calendar of culture, recipes, and reflections by Joseph Cammarano

Additional Reviews

Andiamo, Weasel! - Rose Marie Grant/Jon Goodell

In the rolling Tuscan countryside a piccola crow goes into business with a wily weasel. And therein begins the story of Andiamo, Weasel! by Rose Marie Grant and illustrated by Jon Goodell, ($15.95 Alfred A. Knopf.)

This charmingly illustrated children’s book is perfect for youngsters of all ages, meaning the grown-ups who read it to the children will enjoy the tale and the telling as much as the little ones. Grown ups reading aloud may even break in to the song "Funiculi, funicula!" more than once!

Youngsters accustomed to hearing parents and grandparents split their speech with words from the old country will feel right at home in this fable. Consider that all the speaking parts in this fable belong to the animals, and they all live in Italy, of course, they’ll sprinkle their exchanges with a bit of Italian. (Won’t the grown ups delight in translating for the little ones!)

Even the rooster, who only has one word says it in Italian, "Chicchirichi!" Frankly, we’ve never heard a rooster crow in another language, but if they did, we’re sure this is how they’d sound in Italian. (It’s that willing-suspension-of-disbelief-thing, we ARE talking about a fable here!) But the best part of that rooster’s cameo word is hearing Mom or Dad or a grandparent bringing the word to life, or life to the word and lighting up a child’s face.

As the glossary at end of Andiamo, Weasel! explains, piccola is small. So the crow is small and needs the help of the weasel, who ends up being prodded by the title (Andiamo, Weasel!) and rarely succumbs to work after the corn crop is sown while they merrily sing "Funiculi, funicula!"

This fable works on many levels, one of which for the children reading it is to learn that hard work will be rewarded, and that even though they might be small, or piccola, they probably are much stronger than they realize and should stand up for what’s right.

As interesting and fun as is the story, I could see reading this aloud and pausing to point out the rich detail capturing the Tuscan farm country. The piccola crow wears a flower in her straw hat; the weasel wears a neckerchief (as if he could just as easily hold up the next stage coach!) that he later wears around his broken leg when there is work to be done. In the menacing rain corn husks like vipers whirl in the wind under dark clouds.

The piccola crow enlists the help of a wolf to frighten the weasel into doing the right thing. The wolf could have been drawn to be more scary and imposing a figure – but let’s not upset the friends of the wolves in the world. And the tenor frightened off the bandstand by the piccola crow – why was he a fat, balding man with a handlebar mustache? Ooh fah!

But these minor points are no reason that you shouldn’t run out now and buy a copy of Andiamo, Weasel! for every tot you know, from 1 to 101 years old. It’s the stuff of which memories are made.

Andiamo, Weasel! - Rose Marie Grant

Italian Americans in World War II  - Peter L. Belmonte

128 Pages
Stories untold are lost forever. And so it was with the Italian Americans who served in World War I. The time to record their experience came and went, mostly unrecorded. The recent publication of Italian Americans in World War II by Peter L. Belmonte is an attempt to prevent that fate from befalling the proud young men who served in the latter war.

Through anecdotal interviews and recollections by the servicemen themselves and photos from the front, Belmonte's well-organized tribute to Italian American servicemen in WWII is a worthy component in every Italian American's library.

We were impressed by the straightforward, accurate descriptions, particularly of the pre-war era. Some future-soldiers were heading through college, some had already dropped out of school to help support their families. The state of the nation in the Depression left little time to gripe and moan; it was enough to survive and provide for your family.

Two photos, in particular, stand out in this terrific collection of WWII era shots. In one photo, John Mangione is caught in action firing his 105mm howitzer in the Philippines, 1944. You can see the motion of the big gun as it discharges, and, John's hand on the firing cord, his mouth open to equalize the pressure on the eardrum. The other memorable photo is of Art Pivirotto in front of Navy B-24 Umbriago II.

Belmonte interviewed 50 veterans for the narrative here. That's no mean feat; consider that as recently as last year, many veterans still couldn't bring themselves to talk about the war. Another feather in Belmonte's cap is that through all the name-dropping and different branches discussed, the prose never becomes baffling. In a work this size, that can be a problem, but it doesn't happen here.

Soldiers from all branches discussed the battles and their service from Tarawa to D-Day to Dachau and back home after the war to a meal of 'veal cutlets and meatballs.' Consider the irony of paratrooper Johnny Campisi who received desert training in Needles, Calif., then was sent to the Pacific theater.

Armand Castelli told Belmonte " the food was strictly American, and at first it was hard to adapt to it, but after a week I adjusted to it, especially after being used to Italian food."

Or Sam Mastrogiacomo who delayed as long as he could telling his mother he volunteered for gunnery school. She feared so for his safety that when the news was out she said, "You're a sneak! You've always been a sneak."

A later comment by Mastrogiacomo gets to the heart of what this book should be about, if it could be about anything other than old men remembering the war. Belmonte writes: the gunner recalls that the the NCOs struggled with his long Italian name. "If we fell out for a roll call, and I'd see the sergeant begin to scratch his head and squint at the roster, I'd just shout 'Here!'"

Paratrooper Tony Pilutti, who dropped into combat near Chef-du-Pont, behind Utah Beach in Normandy on D-Day, was granted U.S. citizenship in England on July 16, 1944. He later earned a Bronze Star for combat action in Holland. If that's not enough, Belmonte notes that Pilutti 'had been briefly detained as an enemy alien before shipping overseas.'

A book called Italian Americans in World War II should have more stories like that.

Belmonte spends a few hundred words asking the veterans how they felt at that time if they would have had to fight against Italy or Italian soldiers. The responses were straightforward and summed up by Navy diver Hal Cenedella: there were no Italian Americans, French Americans, or German Americans; we were just plain Americans. There was no animosity toward anyone.

If there is a weakness in this wonderful collection of photos and tales of Italian Americans in World War II, it's that there is little here, save ethnic last names, that distinguishes the war fought by Italian Americans in World War II from the war fought by any other soldier in that war. With between 500,000 and 1.5 million Italian Americans serving in the U.S. military during WWII, it's almost hard to believe that their experiences could be any less homogenized into the horrors of war than those of any other American soldiers.

That's not to take away from their gallant contributions to winning the war.The newly settled Italian immigrant families were large and Belmonte notes at least two families with eight brothers each in service at the same time during the war. Yet how many were uncounted?   This book could have only hoped to pry open a pin hole in the tin can of valiant contributions by Italian Americans in World War II. It has. Simply look at the photos of these young men who did their duty. Look at the fresh faces and remember the uncles and fathers who did not return. They too must be counted among the Italian Americans in World War II. This is the beginning of their story.

Italian Americans in World War II  - Peter L. Belmonte

Italian Stories - stories by Joseph Papaleo

298 pages.
Italian Stories by Joseph Papaleo is fiction, but, of course the places and people seem real from their era, that of post World War II. Although it's not billed as a novel, some of the people/characters are related, and they refer to other stories or characters. So, you find yourself reading it as unrelated stories and then doubling back to find that,yes, this person is
related to that person.

Papaleo intersperses his prose with Italian words and slang: "She shook her head an spoke the word sin in Italian, as though marking a score. "Peccato, peccato, peccato.""

His writing could as well stand alone without it. 

He enjoys words, you can tell: "other ominous auguries."

And some of the pictures he paints: "... the subway from downtown, which, he said, smelled of the remains of dead people";  "the bell sounds came like the cries of hollow birds"; "aural history of the family"; "some fig trees still covered with rain-crusted winter blankets"  -- are just to stop and enjoy the vivid word-pictures.

This book covers a lot, capturing church rituals in their mystical reverence to a youngsters eyes. There are a wedding, a funeral, and the "vigil meal of spaghetti and fried eels". At the wedding, the host "went from table to table explaining what the antipasto was and what was in the minestrone and the lasagna to come."

The 'm' word turns up, too. But it's not a prominent part of the book, simply a fact of life, like saying that someone drives a Ford. And there are some words that you'd only likely hear on cable TV. These words are far less bothersome than the casual cast-offs of guinea and 'guinea wife.'

Italian Stories captures the wheres and whys of the changing New York streets including when "Dr. Russo became Dr. Rust" and identifying "the last Irishman in the neighborhood." Or "Did you hear the one about the first Italian astronaut?"

What're ya gonna do? Sit up and get through it. Italian Stories should be read by all Italian Americans - even though some of it might make you feel uncomfortable. You will see the potential for great literature on many of these pages. And there are many images you won't forget.

Italian Stories stories by Joseph Papaleo

Being Italian: Culture on the Table 2002 Calendar of culture, recipes, and reflections by Joseph Cammarano

Joey Cammarano and his publisher at Atwood Publishing had a great idea when they decided to do the Being Italian - culture on the table, 2002 calendar of culture, recipes and reflections. Really, the concept of a CD case with a calendar, Italian recipes and stories is a great idea.

But somewhere between brilliant concept and execution, the plan failed.

The biggest problem with this calendar is its size. In order to fit inside a CD case, the format of the pages is limited at best. because so much must fit in such a small space, the typeface must be crimped and crunched until it's almost too small to read.

The background for the calendar seems to be that of the worn plaster wall in old Italy. Very aesthetic. But when they set tiny copy in white, I defy anyone over 40 to read it without glasses. It's somewhat better when the type is set in black, but not much better.

Wait, this calendar gets worse. The narratives are set in a small bold-face black script that are even more difficult to read than the white text.

So, the recipes are in white text on a marbled background. The calendar months and days are about the size of two-postage stamps. The family pictures are a nice touch. The narratives, about Jersey City, the Yankees are quaint, and perhaps would operate more effectively as stories being told while preparing some of the recipes.

We're sure the recipes are fine. The biggest problem we'd have is following it in such fine print. Having never met Joseph Cammarano, we would still likely have a lot in common, the Italian American background in New Jersey - for starters, and would likely enjoy breaking bread with him. But Being Italian - culture on the table, 2002 calendar of culture, recipes and reflections, like we said way back at the beginning, misses its mark. Perhaps next year, we could see a full-size calendar -- with the same ingredients and, of course, legible.

Being Italian: Culture on the Table - 2002 Calendar of culture, recipes, and reflections by Joseph Cammarano

These reviews were written by Anthony Buccino and published on this web site in 2002.

A complimentary copy of each book was submitted for review consideration.