This book was amazing. It takes place shortly after WWII in southern Italy, an area populated by a substantial amount of poverty stricken people. The story centers around a youth named Amerigo, who is sent up north for a communist program to send children to families that can care for them in order to give their parents some much-needed relief from the financial burden and worrying how to feed their children. It went much the way I thought it would, as how can you send a child that comes from nothing to a place where they are given everything they need for only a short period of time, then send them home to nothing again? It's truly a heartbreaking experience for Amerigo, as he struggles with coming home to the mother he loves, but must deal with the jealousy his mother has towards the family that took care of him, to the extent that he even loses the precious gifts that he was sent home with. Definite must read!