Overview
“Stop all this talk about monsters, Michele. Monsters don’t exist. It’s men you should be afraid of, not monsters.”
A sweltering heat wave hits a tiny village in Southern Italy, sending the adults to seek shelter, while their children bicycle freely throughout the countryside, playing games and getting into trouble. On a dare, nine-year-old Michele Amitrano enters an old, abandoned farmhouse, where he stumbles upon a secret so terrible that he can’t tell anybody. As the truth emerges, Michele learns that the horror in the creepy old house is closer to home than he ever imagined.
A widely acclaimed international bestseller, I’m Not Scared is a spine-tingling novel that combines a coming of age narrative with a satisfying, enthralling story of suspense.
Synopsis
In the hottest summer of the twentieth century, in a down-at-the-heels hamlet in rural Italy, six children take to their bikes across the scorched countryside. When they arrive at an abandoned farmhouse, one of them, nine-year-old Michele Amitrano, discovers what appears to be the body of a boy his own age. He is too frightened to tell his friends, and his father refuses to listen. When he returns to the site and discovers that the boy is weak but alive, he brings the boy food and water, and learns the terrifying tale of a kidnapping. Told through the eyes of Michele, the story follows his efforts to draw upon his own humanity as the adults around him reveal their increasingly compromised choices.
The New Yorker
Ammaniti is one of Italy's most acclaimed younger writers, and this carefully constructed thriller is the first of his books to appear here. During a piercingly hot summer, a few kilometres from a bone-dry hamlet in rural Tuscany, a shy, nervy, nine-year-old boy called Michele explores a derelict house and discovers, under moldering leaves, a horrifying secret. The novel is saved from sensationalism by Ammaniti's almost cinematic ability to conjure detail -- the look of scraps of meat on a plate, the sheen of a new bike, the whispers of adults in the night -- and by his utterly convincing re-creation of a child's perspective, as Michele's discovery propels him into ever more uncertain territory.
Editorials
The New Yorker
Ammaniti is one of Italy's most acclaimed younger writers, and this carefully constructed thriller is the first of his books to appear here. During a piercingly hot summer, a few kilometres from a bone-dry hamlet in rural Tuscany, a shy, nervy, nine-year-old boy called Michele explores a derelict house and discovers, under moldering leaves, a horrifying secret. The novel is saved from sensationalism by Ammaniti's almost cinematic ability to conjure detail -- the look of scraps of meat on a plate, the sheen of a new bike, the whispers of adults in the night -- and by his utterly convincing re-creation of a child's perspective, as Michele's discovery propels him into ever more uncertain territory.Publishers Weekly
This gripping American debut by Italian novelist Ammaniti captures well the vagaries of childhood: the shifting alliances, the casual betrayals and the mix of helplessness and earnest audacity with which children confront adult situations. Nine-year-old Michele Amitrano lives with his little sister, devoted mother and distant father in a rural Italian hamlet consisting of five dilapidated houses. In the sweltering summer of 1978, he and a group of his friends strike out on their bikes across the barren, scorched hills. While exploring an abandoned house, Michele discovers what he believes to be the dead body of a boy his own age. He cannot bring himself to tell his friends. When he tries to tell his father, the elder Amitrano brushes him off. Drawn back to the site, Michele discovers that the boy is not dead, but weak, disoriented and unable to account for his presence there. Michele brings the boy food and water and slowly learns more about him. The boy's story-which includes kidnapping and ransom-are too much for a nine-year-old to fathom and involve virtually every adult in the tiny community. Yet Michele decides that he must do something to help the boy. Part mystery, part morality play, the novel is written in simple, spare prose. The characters, particularly that of Michele, spring to life, and the story builds to a heart-stopping climax. Readers will find this accomplished work hard to put down and even harder to forget. (Feb.) Forecast: This novel was a bestseller in Italy, and while that doesn't usually translate into U.S. sales, Ammaniti's masterful use of suspense should help win him an American following. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.KLIATT
Italian author Ammaniti paints a picture of Southern Italy that is sweltering, claustrophobic, and rife with desperation and despair. Speaking from the vantage point of adulthood, the narrator, now in his thirties, remembers the summer when he was nine years old. He captures the cruelty, the fears, and the confusion of childhood. Michele, the narrator, is bound to a group of friends from his village. The alliances they make shift, turn, and reform. While exploring the neighboring hills on their bikes, Michele and his friends come upon an abandoned house. Michele, in a moment of gallantry, takes the punishment intended for a girl in the group. In performing the dangerous "forfeit," Michele discovers what appears to be a dead boy concealed in a hole. However, the boy is alive—very weak, disoriented, and seemingly out of his head. Michele takes pity on him and begins a series of regular visits during which he provides food and water and the boy tells Michele about himself. Michele soon discovers that the boy is a kidnap victim and the kidnappers are close at hand. The secrets he uncovers are terrible and shatter his world completely. The childhood need for trust and security are all but destroyed and Michele enters a new world. He has come of age far too soon, and in a way that leaves him scarred. But, he has survived and that is the most important lesson he learns. This morality tale (which was recently made into a film) is also a mystery and a literary portrait of a place and the people who make it their home. It is slow going, particularly at the beginning. However, if the reader is willing to stick with the story, the effort pays off. KLIATT Codes: A—Recommended for advancedstudents and adults. 2003, Random House, Anchor Books, 200p., Ages 17 to adult.—Joseph DeMarco