7. Why do you think Antonina’s father didn’t want her to be friends with Sal after his father was arrested for the attempted bank robbery? Has someone ever told you that he or she could not be friends with you? Why, and how did that make you feel?
8. Have you ever met someone very different from you or someone you did not like or trust at first who turned out to be a good person and friend? Have you ever made friends with someone and wished you hadn’t? Why?
9. What were some of the hardest things for Sal to give up? Have you ever given up something important to you in order to do good for someone else?
10. What is the meaning of “irony”? Which conclusions to the various plot threads of the story can be called “ironic”? Why?
From the Author
Dear Reader,
Although this is a work of fiction, it resulted from my emotional connection to the immigration experience of my Italian ancestors and millions of immigrants like them.
My mother once mentioned that her grandmother had been very sick on the ship that brought her to America. If she had died, I would not be here to share this novel with you today.
Snippets of information offered by my mother, both sets of grandparents from two different towns, and a few great-aunts and uncles about the early years following my family’s arrival in America stayed with me for decades after my youth had passed. I wish I’d paid better attention to my elders when they spoke—and had asked questions. Lots of them.
As I later reflected on my family members’ words, I wanted to know more about Italian immigrants’ first experiences in America. I began to read history and narrative nonfiction about Italian immigrants, particularly Sicilians, as well as books and articles about post-Civil War Louisiana and strawberry farming. I was also very interested in the crime wave perpetrated by Italian/Sicilian mobsters that struck the U.S. during Prohibition.
Understandably, Americans feared or mistrusted Italian immigrants because of the criminal element among them. Through the goodness and hard work of the majority of Italian immigrants, and their cooperation with law enforcement in bringing criminals to justice, the rest of America quickly began to appreciate their new neighbors and fellow citizens.
Over my lifetime, a number of non-Italians I met expressed surprise that my family didn’t have any personal connection to or knowledge of mobsters. This exemplifies a misconception concerning Italians that permeated society during the last century.
I never met a mobster—that I know of anyway! None of my criminal characters are based on real people in history books or otherwise. I made up combinations of first and surnames that I fancied and searched the Internet to find none of them in real life before I used those names in my novel. If any of those names have appeared in searches or in news stories since then, it is purely coincidental. Some of my characters’ names were chosen because I liked their sound or the mental images they evoked. Italian names are melodic to my ears.
No town of Freedom exists in Louisiana. To my knowledge, no town in Louisiana exists where all of the kinds of events that took place in the fictional town of Freedom actually happened, let alone all in 1925.
However, this story was inspired by my love for a town in Louisiana called Independence, where I lived my teenage years, and the strawberry farms common to the area. If I had it to do over again, I would never leave that small town for city life.
Both sides of my family were very patriotic and proud to be Americans. I’ve experienced that feeling among every American Italian I’ve known. This, too, motivated and influenced my writing of The Other Side of Freedom.
I hope this story offers both young and old a glimpse into a different way of life and a fascinating period in American history.
Cynthia T. Toney
Acknowledgements
Had it not been for the length of time it took for my first contemporary manuscript to be published, I might not have written this historical. God’s timing worked for my good, and I am grateful for it.
Thanks to the Schiro family, who brought with their own children to America my great-grandfather, then only a young boy.
Thanks to my parents, who took me to their parents’ farms during summers and holidays, and to my grandparents, who showed me the joys and struggles of farm life.
Thanks to my father for passing down his green thumb and to my mother for her love of animals.
Thanks to Write Integrity Press, particularly Marji and Fay.
Without these individuals, this novel could not have been written and published.
About the Author
Cynthia T. Toney writes for preteens and teens because she wants them to know how wonderful, powerful, and valuable they are. The Other Side of Freedom is her first historical novel. She is also the author of a contemporary series for girls.
In her spare time, she grows herbs and helps rescue dogs from animal shelters. She enjoys studying the complex history of the friendly southern U.S. from Georgia to Texas, where she resides with her husband and several canines.
Cynthia loves hearing from readers, who can contact her through her website CynthiaTToney.com.
Young Adult by Cynthia Toney
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