Franca's Story: Survival in World War II Italy

A friend loaned me the book, thinking I might be interested in reading this story, since I was born and raised in Germany. At first I thought: "oh great, another WW II story" and left it sitting by my bedside. Then I finally picked it up and started to read. About 3 hrs later I had to go to sleep, only to dream of it and couldn't wait to continue reading the next evening! It was and is not the usual 'woe is me' kind of story but rather a matter of fact narrative of the way it was for a 12 year old, whose life was almost perfect one minute only to have it turn into a nightmare the next. Senora Franca tells her story without anger or bitterness and I admire her for that! I simply adored the little girl who was forced to grow up so fast and yes I did feel badly about my background, but she survived! Thank you for giving us a glimpse of a war experience without hate!

Franca's Story won the silver award for ForeWord Magazine's 2005 Book of the Year - autobiography/memoir! It is also a winner of gold award for the Benjamin Franklin Award for best interior design using 1-2 colors! Awards were given at the Book Expo America in Washington, D.C. in May 2006.