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Maria Testa

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"My father was not a storyteller," says Maria Testa, author of the critically acclaimed poetic novels SOMETHING ABOUT AMERICA, ALMOST FOREVER and BECOMING JOE DIMAGGIO. "Our family was not the kind that sat on the front porch, sipping lemonade and listening to the elders reminisce. We were doers and did not spend a lot of time on verbal reflection."

How then, did Maria Testa come to write three deeply affecting novels? Maria Testa's latest novel, SOMETHING ABOUT AMERICA, was inspired by true events in Lewiston, Maine. Narrated by a young daughter from Kosova, this nuanced and deeply moving tale explores immigration in contemporary America.

Previously, Maria Testa has found inspiration from her family history. "Sometime, without remembering "My father was not a storyteller," says Maria Testa, author of the critically acclaimed poetic novels SOMETHING ABOUT AMERICA, ALMOST FOREVER and BECOMING JOE DIMAGGIO. "Our family was not the kind that sat on the front porch, sipping lemonade and listening to the elders reminisce. We were doers and did not spend a lot of time on verbal reflection."

How then, did Maria Testa come to write three deeply affecting novels? Maria Testa's latest novel, SOMETHING ABOUT AMERICA, was inspired by true events in Lewiston, Maine. Narrated by a young daughter from Kosova, this nuanced and deeply moving tale explores immigration in contemporary America.

Previously, Maria Testa has found inspiration from her family history. "Sometime, without remembering when, exactly, I learned about my father's life before me, before Vietnam, before medical school," she says of BECOMING JOE DIMAGGIO, which takes readers back to the summer of 1936. "Maybe it was in the car, out in the yard playing catch or pulling weeds, at the dinner table, or between the innings of a Yankees game on television. Somehow, without remembering how, exactly, I learned about a radio, a garden, a grandfather, and Joe Dimaggio. So maybe my father was a storyteller after all."

With ALMOST FOREVER, Maria Testa moves ahead to the 1960s to evoke--through the eyes of a six-year-old girl--the experience of seeing one's father march off to Vietnam to serve a year in the U.S. Army Medical Corps. "It is a tribute to the children of Vietnam veterans and to those who did not come home from war," she says. "It is my hope that we can always remember ourselves as children, so as not to forget the new generation of young people still waiting for the end of forever."

The recipient of a Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators Work-in-Progress Grant for BECOMING JOE DIMAGGIO, Maria Testa has garnered extraordinary praise for her spare, gripping novels. "Powerfully moving, as it braids together baseball, family, and the Italian-American experience," said BOOKLIST's starred review BECOMING JOE DIMAGGIO, which was selected as an American Library Association Notable Book for Children, an IRA Children's Choice, and a Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award Winner, among other accolades. "A tour de force," raves a starred review ALMOST FOREVER in KIRKUS REVIEWS. "Rapt readers don't need to know anything about Vietnam to understand love, loss, fear, and waiting."

Maria Testa has written three picture books for children and a collection of short stories for young adults. She is also the author of another book about baseball, SOME KIND OF PRIDE, which was awarded the Marguerite De Angeli Prize for a first middle-grade novel. Maria Testa grew up in Rhode Island and now lives in Portland, Maine, with her family.
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Combine Editions
Maria Testa’s books

Average rating: 3.74 · 502 ratings · 96 reviews · 12 distinct works • Similar authors

	Almost Forever 3.86 avg rating — 196 ratings — published 2003 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Becoming Joe DiMaggio by Maria Testa, Scott Hunt (Illustrator) 3.64 avg rating — 124 ratings — published 2002 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Something About America 3.64 avg rating — 115 ratings — published 2005 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Some Kind of Pride 3.59 avg rating — 22 ratings — published 2001 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Someplace to Go by Maria Testa, Karen Ritz (Illustrator) 3.82 avg rating — 17 ratings — published 1996	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Nine Candles (First Person Series) by Maria Testa, Amanda Schaffer 4.62 avg rating — 13 ratings — published 1996 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Dancing Pink Flamingos and Other Stories 3.14 avg rating — 7 ratings — published 1997 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	ريكو يرفع شارة الفوز by Maria Testa, Diane Paterson (Illustrator ), مؤسسة تامر للتعليم المجتمعي (Publisher ) 3.60 avg rating — 5 ratings — published 1994 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Facing Donegall Square it was ok 2.00 avg rating — 2 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Per versa 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars