Rosa, Sola

NOTE: this edition includes a "Discussion Questions" section for classroom use.

Rosa Bernardi, an only child living with her Italian immigrant parents in 1960s Chicago, often feels alone, or sola, as her parents would say. But after she holds her best friend AnnaMaria's baby brother for the first time, Rosa is sure that if she prays hard enough, God will send her a brother of her own. When Rosa's prayers for a sibling are answered, she is overjoyed--until tragedy strikes. Rosa is left feeling more sola than ever, and wondering if her broken family will ever be whole again.

A Booklist Top Ten First Novel for Youth and winner of a 2017 Catholic Press Association Book Award.

About the Author
Martino, Carmela A.: - Carmela Martino is an author, speaker, and writing teacher. She wrote the middle-grade novel, Rosa, Sola (originally published by Candlewick Press), while working on her MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults at Vermont College. The novel was a Booklist Top Ten First Novel for Youth and winner of a Catholic Press Association Book Award. Her second novel, the young-adult historical romance Playing by Heart (Vinspire Publishing), has received numerous awards, including the Catholic Arts and Letters Award, the Independent Author Network Book of the Year Award for Outstanding Young Adult Fiction, and a Moonbeam Children's Book Awards Gold Medal for Young Adult Historical. Carmela has taught writing workshops for children and adults since 1998, and she blogs about teaching and writing at TeachingAuthors.com. For more info, see www.carmelamartino.com.