Publisher Description

This is a collection of short stories and poems about a young girl growing up in northern New Jersey during the Great Depression. In her often humorous, often poignant way, she writes about her family, their Catholic customs, her observations of their idiosyncrasies, strengths, and weaknesses, from her days as an elementary school student through growing up and moving on.

Review

In the grand tradition of Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, with a dash of Erma Bombeckian dry humor in the most unexpected places, Nanny Goat Hill is a delightful mem...no, it's more than a memoir; rather, it is a slice of Americana not usually described in the mainstream media. But, boy, is it eye-opening! Get it, and be prepared to spend some delightful evenings with Maria and her stories. - Dan Close, author, The Glory of the Kings and Song of Quebec Marie, Madonn', have you ever written one terrific book here! Every story is filled with unique, funny characters, beautiful sentences and figurative language, jokes, original plots and situations, memory joggers like book-bags and Books of Knowledge and Nedicks (not Nathans) hot dogs, themes from believing in God to kissing boys. Cooties and kerosene. I loved the whole thing, and I don't say that about many things I read. - Jim DeFilippi, author of thirty books, including his upcoming The Juice Kittens. These short stories introduce us to the world of Nanny Goat Hill in the 1930s, as seen through the eyes of young Maria,
a pre-teen who observes and thinks too much about boys,
nuns, sickness, death, prejudice, her Italian family, boarders, step-parents, Irish and German friends, acquaintances, neighbors, and eccentric crazies. The stories are understated, moving, realistic, and are destined to become classics. - Mark Pendergrast, author, Uncommon Grounds

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