Me and you /

Reprising the childish perspective and sinister psychological freightedness of Ammaniti's international best-seller I'm Not Scared (2002), this novel, already a best-seller in Italy, sees Ammaniti in familiar form. Its world is a narrow one, constrained by the perspective of antisocial Lorenzo Cumi and made up, for the most part, of only the cellar room he inhabits while his parents think he is on a trip with friends. Lorenzo, diagnosed at one point with narcissistic personality disorder, is delineated with sensitivity and skill. He is 14, uninterested in or incapable of connecting with people, and eager for a week's solitary refuge. When his troubled half sister, Olivia, shows up, though, they are both forced, rather dramatically, to confront and perhaps begin to overcome their respective weaknesses and evasions. The pacing of the novel is odd and sometimes forced, and there is something a bit false and impoverished at its center, though that could charitably be seen as an authentic expression of the narrator's sociopathic tendencies. Still, its sensational emotionalism and claustrophobic intensity make this an undeniably engaging (and quick) read.--Kinney, Meg Copyright 2010 Booklist

Already a bestseller in Italy, Ammaniti's slim but immensely engaging fourth novel presents Lorenzo Cuni, a precocious 14-year-old desperate for some space of his own. He achieves this respite from reality with "Operation Bunker," an elaborate ruse whereby his parents believe he is skiing in the Italian Alps, when actually he has secluded himself in the basement of the family's apartment building. Settling in among dust, sheets, and other items of a "Fifties household amassed in a cellar," Lorenzo surveys the food and video games he's stockpiled and hunkers down for a glorious week of self-induced solitary confinement. Lorenzo describes his childhood as a friendless existence, much befitting the diminutive outcast that he's become, and as narrative sympathy swells, Ammaniti expertly ratchets up the suspense with a rare appearance by half-sister Olivia, 23. Feigning homelessness and a mysterious illness, she joins him in an emotional reunion that soon morphs into a bittersweet, heartbreaking alliance. Both tender and emotionally arresting, Ammaniti's novel is unforgettable. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

In this novel by best-selling Italian author Ammaniti (I'm Not Scared; As God Commands), Lorenzo, craving solitude, lies to his parents about going with classmates on a skiing vacation to Cortina and hides out in the basement of their Rome apartment building. This falsehood pleases his mother, who is overjoyed at the acceptance of her misfit 14-year-old son by popular kids. After a day or two of sleeping late, playing video games, and eating junk food, Lorenzo is stunned when his estranged half-sister, Olivia, whom he barely knows and who is ten years his senior, knocks on the door of his basement refuge, in need of a place to crash. When she becomes ill, Lorenzo does all he can to help her, even visiting his gravely ill grandmother in the hospital to find medicine. As their week together draws to a close, the two develop a strong bond. An afterword about what happens to Olivia makes a powerful climax to this well--written book. VERDICT Ammaniti is a fantastic writer, with the ability to deliver a lingering verbal punch in the gut. This suspenseful yet clever and elegant novel is a sure winner. [See Prepub Alert, 8/8/11.]-Lisa Rohrbaugh, Leetonia Community P.L., OH (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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