Friends of the Heart / Amici del Cuore

by Kate Banks

A friendship transcends distance and time
Ollie is a great whistler, while Lucrezia can’t whistle at all. Ollie has traveled the world, but Lucrezia is afraid of the dark and hates goodbyes. Yet, despite their differences, Ollie and Lucrezia have been best friends forever. When Ollie is eight, he moves from Rome to Milan, and Lucrezia feels as though her world has ended. But their friendship blooms, against the backdrop of beloved family and beloved places, until their thirteenth summer together, when a change in plans alters Lucrezia’s life forever.
Narrated by Lucrezia, this haunting novel exquisitely captures through vivid language and sense of place both the beauty and enduring nature of human relationships. Set in modern-day Italy, this is a book about journeys to places new and old, toward self-discovery, toward adulthood, and toward things bigger than ourselves.

144 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Kate Banks has written many books for children, among them Max’s Words, And If the Moon Could Talk, winner of the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award, and The Night Worker, winner of the Charlotte Zolotow Award. She grew up in Maine, where she and her two sisters and brother spent a lot of time outdoors, and where Banks developed an early love of reading. “I especially liked picture books,” she says, “and the way in which words and illustrations could create a whole new world in which sometimes real and other times magical and unexpected things could happen.” Banks attended Wellesley College and received her masters in history at Columbia University. She lived in Rome for eight years but now lives in the South of France with her husband and two sons, Peter Anton and Maximilian.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/katebanks

Reviews

[Thinley Choden · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is great omg<3
I would surely recommend this book for young teenagers. You wouldn't enjoy it as much as i did if you're older. But that's just the feeling i have. Who knows? Maybe older people would like this too.
The bond shown in this book is literally so beautiful😭 Giving it 3 stars<3

[Kekskerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

P. 185: Les choses n´arrivent pas par hasard, il y a toujours une raison.
P. 197: Et nous restons sur terre pour aider les vivants.

[Jennie Vosen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A coming-of-age story placed in modern day Italy. I really enjoyed this book, in fact I had a hard time putting it down because I was enjoying the story and the setting so much. The ending shocked me and seemed jarring considering the tone of the rest of the book, but realistic once I thought about it in context of modern life in Europe.

[Fitchburg Public Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

A coming-of-age story placed in modern day Italy. I really enjoyed this book, in fact I had a hard time putting it down because I was enjoying the story and the setting so much. The ending shocked me and seemed jarring considering the tone of the rest of the book, but realistic once I thought about it in context of modern life in Europe. - Reviewed by Jennie V.

[Mr. Steve · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rather boring story with a crazy, out-of-nowhere tragedy that manages to continue the boredom. For a select audience: insomniacs. But that's just one man's opinion.

[10-11 Karrin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a sweet story about friendship. It really broke my heart not but 9 pages before the book ended. I recommend this to anyone. I felt like I knew the characters! A real tear-jerker.