Silver at Night - Hardcover

Bartoletti, Susan Campbell

3.18

11 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0517594269 ISBN 13: 9780517594261

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers, 1994

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Massimino emigrates from Italy to work in the coal mines of turn-of-the-century America and slowly saves enough silver to pay the passage of his fiancee

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From School Library Journal:

Grade 1-3-Sharing the immigrant experience with young readers is a worthy goal. However, in this brief tale in which a young man from Italy finds work in America's coal mines, the poetic imagery of the prose style overwhelms the story line. It is difficult to relate to Massimino's ocean journey, struggles, and long years of work, because the dreamlike quality of the text belies the hard facts of the obstacles he must overcome. One cannot help but compare the lyricism and understated truths so evident in Allen Say's Grandfather's Journey (Houghton, 1993) with this account. The somewhat odd perspective of Ray's full-color illustrations are consistent with the story's mood, but the personalities of Massimino and his true love, Perina, who joins him at the end, are not individualized enough in this rather primitive artistic style. In fact, the hugeness of some images, such as trains, tunnels, and animals, tends to dwarf the main characters, much as the excessive verbiage obscures the point. The transitions from the harsh reality in the coal mines, to Massimino's fantasy of owning a small farm, and his memories of the "old country" are also difficult to follow. The story of immigrants' struggles and achievements has been told often and well in a variety of picture books for this age group; only libraries with a large demand for the subject should consider this purchase.
Martha Rosen, Edgewood School, Scarsdale, NY
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Publishers Weekly:

Massimino, toiling in the old country, marvels at the landlord's hilltop mansion, "perched like a proud, fat cat guarding all that it had caught." Even the sun and moon seem to belong to the landlord. Yearning for property of his own, Massimino leaves his village and his one love, Perina, who predicts that he will someday be a rich man, with "gold in the morning and silver at night." He sails across the ocean to "a new country," then boards a train for "a village nestled in the arms of a great mountain." There he mines coal by day and counts his silver coins by night-and misses Perina. First-time author Bartoletti throngs the simple story in an avalanche of fulsome imagery. Ray's (Greyling) illustrations combine a comforting palette and soft, draping forms with tilted perspectives-evoking the mixed moods of alienation and home, dazzling prospects and back-breaking work. His images of the moon and sun and other sources of light soften the text, preparing the reader for Massimino's realization that, reunited with Perina, he is "rich indeed." Ages 5-9.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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