Alligator Bayou

From School Library Journal Grade 8 Up—Building on her extensive research conducted after reading a newspaper article about the lynching of Sicilian grocers in Tallulah, LA, in 1899, Napoli presents a moving, sobering story about an aspect of American immigration that is probably unknown to most readers. After his mother's death, 14-year-old Calogero leaves his bustling Sicilian home for the sleepy southern town to help his uncles and younger cousin run their grocery store. White customers expect to be served before blacks and make their displeasure angrily apparent when the Sicilians fail to do so. Barred from the white school and unaware that he can attend the black school, Calogero learns English from a tutor who also tries to help him comprehend Southern American behavior. The cousins meet some African American boys who take them on a terrifying alligator hunt that firmly cements their friendship. Calogero is attracted to Patricia, a African American girl, but fails to fully understand the danger behind her fear of being seen in public with him. Although he has heard his uncles' stories of the recent lynching of Sicilians in New Orleans, he is unprepared for the horrifying tragedy that befalls his family when a local white doctor kills Uncle Francesco's goats and then convinces an angry mob that the Sicilians plan to retaliate violently. Historical events are smoothly integrated with vivid everyday details, strong characterizations, and genuine-sounding dialogue. Ultimately, the author expands her themes beyond the story's specifics, encouraging readers to reconsider the motivations behind this calamity and other manifestations of racism.—_Ginny Gustin, Sonoma County Library System, Santa Rosa, CA_ Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From ...The facts from [a] little-told chapter in American history frame Napoli’s wrenching novel about a 14-year-old Sicilian, Calogero, who joins male relatives in Tallulah after his mother’s death. Legally segregated from both whites and blacks, the Italians maintain an insular life, focused on their thriving produce business, until Calo’s secret crush on African American Patricia begins to dissolve social barriers between the two communities, even as social tensions with whites escalate into shocking violence. Through Calo’s active questioning, Napoli integrates a great deal of background history that is further explored in an extensive author’s note. Readers learn, right along with naive Calo, the draconian specifics of Jim Crow laws and the complex factors of fear and economics that fueled the South’s entrenched bigotry. A few passages do have a purposeful feel, particularly those between Calo and his tutor, but Napoli’s skillful pacing and fascinating detail combine in a gripping story that sheds cold, new light on Southern history and on the nature of racial prejudice. Grades 7-10. --Gillian Engberg From School Library Journal Grade 8 Up鈥擝uilding on her extensive research conducted after reading a newspaper article about the lynching of Sicilian grocers in Tallulah, LA, in 1899, Napoli presents a moving, sobering story about an aspect of American immigration that is probably unknown to most readers. After his mother's death, 14-year-old Calogero leaves his bustling Sicilian home for the sleepy southern town to help his uncles and younger cousin run their grocery store. White customers expect to be served before blacks and make their displeasure angrily apparent when the Sicilians fail to do so. Barred from the white school and unaware that he can attend the black school, Calogero learns English from a tutor who also tries to help him comprehend Southern American behavior. The cousins meet some African American boys who take them on a terrifying alligator hunt that firmly cements their friendship. Calogero is attracted to Patricia, a African American girl, but fails to fully understand the danger behind her fear of being seen in public with him. Although he has heard his uncles' stories of the recent lynching of Sicilians in New Orleans, he is unprepared for the horrifying tragedy that befalls his family when a local white doctor kills Uncle Francesco's goats and then convinces an angry mob that the Sicilians plan to retaliate violently. Historical events are smoothly integrated with vivid everyday details, strong characterizations, and genuine-sounding dialogue. Ultimately, the author expands her themes beyond the story's specifics, encouraging readers to reconsider the motivations behind this calamity and other manifestations of racism.鈥擾Ginny Gustin, Sonoma County Library System, Santa Rosa, CA_ Copyright 漏 Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From ...The facts from [a] little-told chapter in American history frame Napoli鈥檚 wrenching novel about a 14-year-old Sicilian, Calogero, who joins male relatives in Tallulah after his mother鈥檚 death. Legally segregated from both whites and blacks, the Italians maintain an insular life, focused on their thriving produce business, until Calo鈥檚 secret crush on African American Patricia begins to dissolve social barriers between the two communities, even as social tensions with whites escalate into shocking violence. Through Calo鈥檚 active questioning, Napoli integrates a great deal of background history that is further explored in an extensive author鈥檚 note. Readers learn, right along with naive Calo, the draconian specifics of Jim Crow laws and the complex factors of fear and economics that fueled the South鈥檚 entrenched bigotry. A few passages do have a purposeful feel, particularly those between Calo and his tutor, but Napoli鈥檚 skillful pacing and fascinating detail combine in a gripping story that sheds cold, new light on Southern history and on the nature of racial prejudice. Grades 7-10. --Gillian Engberg Fiction,General,United States,People & Places,Social Science,Juvenile Fiction,Historical,Family,Social Issues,Lifestyles,Country life,Other,Italian Americans,Emigration & Immigration,Louisiana,Orpans,Race relations,Uncles,Prejudices,Segregation,Discrimination & Race Relations,Proofs (Printing),19th Century,African American,Lynching,Country life - Louisiana,Prejudice & Racism

talullah, Louisiana. 1899.

calogero, His Uncles, And Cousins Are Six Sicilian Men Living In The Small Town Of Tallulah, Louisiana. They Work Hard, Growing Vegetables And Selling Them At Their Stand And In Their Grocery Store.

to 14-year-old Calogero, Newly Arrived From Sicily, Tallulah Is A Lush World Full Of Contradictions, Hidden Rules, And Tension Between The Negro And White Communities. He’s Startled And Thrilled By The Danger Of A ’gator Hunt In The Midnight Bayou, And By His Powerful Feelings For Patricia, A Sharpwitted, Sweet-natured Negro Girl. Some People Welcome The Sicilians. Most Do Not. Calogero’s Family Is Caught In The Middle: The Whites Don’t See Them As Equal, But Befriending Negroes Is Dangerous. Every Day Brings Calogero And His Family Closer To A A Terrifying, Violent Confrontation.

publishers Weekly

based On The 1899 Lynching Of Five Italian Immigrants, This Thought-provoking Book Draws Its Power From Vivid Depictions Of Late-19th-century Louisiana And Little-known Historical Facts. Settled In Smalltown Tallulah, 14-year-old Calogero And A Handful Of Other Sicilian Immigrants Find Themselves Isolated: By Law They Are Not White, But White People Discourage Them From Mixing With Negroes (the Sheriff, Forbidding Calogero To Attend The Town School, Advises Him That He'd Be Better Off Uneducated Than Attending The Negroes' School). But Social Pressure Doesn't Keep Calogero From A Budding Romance With Smart, Pretty Patricia, Even After He's Almost Beaten Up For Fraternizing With Them Cotton Pickers. Napoli (hush) Sketches Out Some Economic And Political Roots Of Racism As The White Citizens' Resentment Of The Sicilians Builds. While The Author Leaves Some Seams Showing In Her Attempt To Incorporate Background Information, Her Protagonists Are Convincingly Vulnerable, And The Violent Climax Will Ensure That Readers Remember Her Message. Ages 12-up. (mar.)

copyright © Reed Business Information, A Division Of Reed Elsevier Inc. All Rights Reserved.

An unforgettable novel, based on a true story, about racism against Italian Americans in the South in 1899. Fourteen-year-old Calogero, his uncles, and his cousins are six Sicilians living in the small town of Tallulah, Louisiana, miles from any of their countrymen. They grow vegetables and sell them at their stand and in their grocery store. Some people welcome the immigrants; most do not. Calogero's family is caught in the middle of tensions between the black and white communities. As Calogero struggles to adapt to Tallulah, he is startled and thrilled by the danger of midnight gator hunts in the bayou and by his powerful feelings for Patricia, a sharp-witted, sweet-natured black girl. Meanwhile, every day, and every misunderstanding between the white community and the Sicilians, bring Calogero and his family closer to a terrifying, violent confrontation. In this affecting and unforgettable novel, Donna Jo Napoli's inspired research and spare, beautiful language take the classic immigrant story to new levels of emotion and searing truth. Alligator Bayou tells a story that all Americans should know. Fourteen-year-old Calogero Scalise and his Sicilian uncles and cousin live in small-town Louisiana in 1898, when Jim Crow laws rule and anti-immigration sentiment is strong, so despite his attempts to be polite and to follow American customs, disaster dogs his family at every turn