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Take Me With You    by Carolyn Marsden Amazon.com order for
Take Me With You
by Carolyn Marsden
Order:  USA  Can
Candlewick, 2010 (2010)
Hardcover

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* *   Reviewed by Hilary Williamson

Take Me With You is set in a Catholic orphanage in post-World War II Italy, where two close friends - eleven-year-olds Susanna and Pina - anxiously hope for adoption.

Susanna knows she won't be picked - after all, her skin is the color of cappucino. The nuns have told her that her father was an American soldier, a nero. But why is pretty, blond, white-skinned Pina never chosen? Is it because she's always in trouble?

Then a letter arrives from Susanna's father, who has just found out that he has a daughter. She learns that her Italian mother died, and eventually meets her dark-skinned Papa, who wants to take her home with him to America to be with the rest of the family. But what will happen to Pina?

Susanna helps her friend with various schemes, but finally Pina discovers the truth about her mother. They seek her out together and find a solution to Pina's problem. Take Me With You is a sweet chapter book story (with a happy ending) about the reality of World War II orphans in Italy.

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