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Something About America
Immigration in contemporary America is explored in a powerful lyric novel from award-winning poet Maria Testa.
What happens to a dream divided?
Draping colorful scarves around her neck, the thirteen-year-old from Kosova thinks of herself as a typical American schoolgirl, happy to blend into eighth grade with her friends. But for her parents, seeking a new life in Maine was not a choice but a necessity — a way to escape from a war and find medical care for a daughter burned in a fire that scarred her up to her chin. While her underemployed parents still talk about "home" and continue to feel like foreigners ten years later, their daughter is torn between the guilt about their displacement and pride in her new identity. Then a hateful event changes everything, stirring passions throughout the entire region and forcing residents old and new to re-examine what it means to be an American.
Narrated by the young daughter from Kosova, the nuanced and deeply moving immigration tale was inspired by true In October 2002, the mayor of Lewiston, Maine wrote a letter to the elders of the local Somali community, asking them to turn future refugees away because the town was "maxed-out physically, financially, and emotionally." Seizing the opportunity, a racist group staged a rally that drew thirty people, only to be met by some six thousand residents in support of the Somalis — people of all cultures and backgrounds who knew something about America.
What happens to a dream divided?
Draping colorful scarves around her neck, the thirteen-year-old from Kosova thinks of herself as a typical American schoolgirl, happy to blend into eighth grade with her friends. But for her parents, seeking a new life in Maine was not a choice but a necessity — a way to escape from a war and find medical care for a daughter burned in a fire that scarred her up to her chin. While her underemployed parents still talk about "home" and continue to feel like foreigners ten years later, their daughter is torn between the guilt about their displacement and pride in her new identity. Then a hateful event changes everything, stirring passions throughout the entire region and forcing residents old and new to re-examine what it means to be an American.
Narrated by the young daughter from Kosova, the nuanced and deeply moving immigration tale was inspired by true In October 2002, the mayor of Lewiston, Maine wrote a letter to the elders of the local Somali community, asking them to turn future refugees away because the town was "maxed-out physically, financially, and emotionally." Seizing the opportunity, a racist group staged a rally that drew thirty people, only to be met by some six thousand residents in support of the Somalis — people of all cultures and backgrounds who knew something about America.
96 pages, Hardcover
First published August 9, 2005
About the author
Maria Testa
14 books6 followers"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.
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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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
June 21, 2019
Although this is a quick read, I enjoyed every moment of it. “Something About America”.
It tells a story of how a young girl and her parents came to America. This story speaks on the effects of war on a family and how their lives shift suddenly. Before America, there was Kosova. A place to dream and have choices but also a place where, “luck is measured by men. If you can find them”. But war has a way of interrupting everything. There is so much sexism in the book as it spills out the role that men and women play in a household. There is the underlying problem of what beauty is defined as since the main character was burned all the way up to her. chin. There is the sadness as immigrants think coming to America will get them degrees they wanted only to end up working at a chicken factory. There is so much said in this little book that I beautifully written and worthy.
“Everyone has a story.
Everyone has known
happiness and hope,
fear and sadness.
Everyone in America
is a citizen of the world”.
It tells a story of how a young girl and her parents came to America. This story speaks on the effects of war on a family and how their lives shift suddenly. Before America, there was Kosova. A place to dream and have choices but also a place where, “luck is measured by men. If you can find them”. But war has a way of interrupting everything. There is so much sexism in the book as it spills out the role that men and women play in a household. There is the underlying problem of what beauty is defined as since the main character was burned all the way up to her. chin. There is the sadness as immigrants think coming to America will get them degrees they wanted only to end up working at a chicken factory. There is so much said in this little book that I beautifully written and worthy.
“Everyone has a story.
Everyone has known
happiness and hope,
fear and sadness.
Everyone in America
is a citizen of the world”.
April 10, 2018
A decade later, this book is still relevant to what’s going on in America today. Beautifully written and a quick read.
December 10, 2025
A Yugoslavian girl and her parents arrive in America to flee war in their country. Their house was set on fire while the four-year-old girl was inside. She escaped with burns on her body and neck, but she feels lucky because her face was untouched. She gradually assimilates to her new Maine neighborhood, makes nice friends, and goes to school. As the years go by, her parents have difficulty accepting their fate in a new country, and feel frustrated and angry. Nearby, in the city of Lewiston, the mayor writes a letter to the Somalian community telling them not to send any more of them to their city because the city's resources are "maxed out." Leaflets complaining about too many immigrants were distributed in neighborhoods. Six thousand people attend an organized rally on the same day that thirty people show up to support the mayor at a meeting. The story invites readers to consider the perspectives, needs, and ambitions of all humans, not just those who are privileged enough to have been born in this country.
November 26, 2017
This is a short novella, written in verse. It can be read in a half hour or less, which means you can read it a couple times! The narrator and her family are refugees from Kosova. She was burned in a fire, which has left her neck disfigured. Her burns and the treatment she required turned out to be her family's passport to America. Her father sort of resents that, yet he doesn't return to Kosovo years later, as others take his advice and return. When the mayor of Lewiston issues a letter stating that his town has all the Somali refugees it can take, father takes action. The author draws on Langston Hughes well-known poetry to say something about the racism that has been so pervasive in America in ever-shifting forms.
June 4, 2018
The young narrator of this book of poems fled Kosovo when she was badly burned. Ten years later, she is all American, watching her parents struggle with life in America as refugees. A beautiful blend of what is best and worst in American. Profound, just wish it was longer.
September 17, 2023
This short novel-in-verse is the story of a young girl who came to Maine from Kosovo and was inspired by anti-Somali racist events in Lewistown, ME. Readers will want to learn more -- this is a good book to pair with informational books and research.
March 22, 2017
I had this on my class bookshelf but I have no idea where I got it. I hadn't read it so I decided I needed to learn more about this book.
It's thin. It's written in free verse. It's about a refugee girl and her family.
Frankly, it was too thin for me to get much out of the book. I suspect my students might get more. It's definitely unintimidating and it deals with issues such as hate crimes and racism.
This should be on a classroom shelf and it should be read more often. I think i'll recommend it to my students who are dealing with immigrant issues in social studies.
It's thin. It's written in free verse. It's about a refugee girl and her family.
Frankly, it was too thin for me to get much out of the book. I suspect my students might get more. It's definitely unintimidating and it deals with issues such as hate crimes and racism.
This should be on a classroom shelf and it should be read more often. I think i'll recommend it to my students who are dealing with immigrant issues in social studies.
August 31, 2008
This novel-in-verse tells the story of a young girl whose family fled the war in Kosova and moved to Idaho. The young protagonist has fully embraced her American life after ten years but her parents continue to struggle. This was a quick read, and a good introduction to students who might not be familiar with the conflict, but there are better books on both this subject and in this format.
February 22, 2009
Its rally good but the reason why I did not give it a 5 star is because some of her pome is ver boring and I love to read books that pulls me in all the way and for me I dont think it did sorry. The reason why i gave her a 4 star because all the pomes got thing to do with her life and because she do not just writ what can to her head she wrot how she fells
June 20, 2011
Well, since it's told in verse, at least it's quick. I don't especially love narrative verse, but I've read better. This subtly alludes to 9/11 and also a KKK rally, and is based on the author's real life experience. However, this doesn't really say a whole lot and doesn't have much insight into the immigrant experience in America. It might be good for a middle schooler, tops.
January 28, 2015
Spectacular.
It's short, with not many words on each page. This caused me to read each word individually, in a way I usually don't, almost like I was reading aloud. This didn't get in the way, but allowed me to savor the experience.
There is so much packed into each section-- emotion, ideas, empathy, and a meaningful story.
Strongly recommended.
It's short, with not many words on each page. This caused me to read each word individually, in a way I usually don't, almost like I was reading aloud. This didn't get in the way, but allowed me to savor the experience.
There is so much packed into each section-- emotion, ideas, empathy, and a meaningful story.
Strongly recommended.
February 13, 2017
Bad choice to write it in poetry form. Wouldve liked a longer book, not enough info in it
July 2, 2009
The story of a Yugoslavian girl who came to America with her parents to seek medical treatment for burns. Their house was torched in Kosova during the ethnic cleansing there. The entire book is written in poetry form. Nicely done.
August 14, 2016
Quick, thought-provoking novel in verse told from the point of view of a young girl whose family immigrated to the US from Kosovo. Has some important ideas and reflections about the immigrant and refugee experience.
January 31, 2013
I really liked the innocence portrayed by the reader and captured by her sparse choice of words. It was very well done.
May 7, 2014
I did not really enjoy this book due to the format in which it was written (verse fiction) It did not hook me in, i am just glad it was short!
November 7, 2014
Gracefully written.
June 27, 2016
An easy, quick novel in verse for students who need some nudging, but I felt like it could have and should have been a little longer.
October 28, 2007
Brief novel in verse about a refugee family from Kosovo in the U.S.
April 18, 2017
For ELL1 class
A wonderful book told in poems about a girl from Kosova, Yugoslavia who comes to Maine. About being an immigrant and identity. Pretty easy to read but some really thought-provoking content.
A wonderful book told in poems about a girl from Kosova, Yugoslavia who comes to Maine. About being an immigrant and identity. Pretty easy to read but some really thought-provoking content.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews