Sola, Rosa

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.

It was named a Top Ten First Novel for Youth by Booklist and won the Catholic Press Association Book Award1. The author’s second novel, Playing by Heart, has also 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.