Reviewed by Jaglvr for TeensReadToo.com
Antonia Lucia Labella has two desires. One is to get her first kiss. The second is to become the first living saint. Neither looks like it will happen anytime soon for Antonia.
Fifteen, and the daughter of a devout Catholic Italian mother, Antonia is not allowed to attend the combined dances at school until she's sixteen. Her mother freaks out if her skirts go above her knees. And forget about going out of the house in makeup. As you can imagine, with these restrictions, the chance of a boyfriend and getting her first kiss are next to nil.
On a monthly basis, Antonia sends a letter to the Vatican with her latest idea for a new patron saint. Antonia comes up with creative needs that should have a saint. Her recent ideas include a patron saint for figs and fig trees, as well as one for first kisses and kissing.
THE POSSIBILITIES OF SAINTHOOD chronicles a brief glimpse into Antonia's life. With interesting snippits on the causes of various saints, the story moves along with amusing anecdotes from Antonia. Along the way, the reader learns of her secret crush on Andy Rotellini, as well as her confusing friendship with Michael. Antonia shares her angst caused by her three cousins, as well as her inability to become a living saint.
The story is quick and surprisingly educational for all. One doesn't have to be an Italian Catholic to appreciate the humor that Ms. Freitas generates with Antonia, who is sure to endear herself to everyone.
Antonia Lucia Labella has two desires. One is to get her first kiss. The second is to become the first living saint. Neither looks like it will happen anytime soon for Antonia.
Fifteen, and the daughter of a devout Catholic Italian mother, Antonia is not allowed to attend the combined dances at school until she's sixteen. Her mother freaks out if her skirts go above her knees. And forget about going out of the house in makeup. As you can imagine, with these restrictions, the chance of a boyfriend and getting her first kiss are next to nil.
On a monthly basis, Antonia sends a letter to the Vatican with her latest idea for a new patron saint. Antonia comes up with creative needs that should have a saint. Her recent ideas include a patron saint for figs and fig trees, as well as one for first kisses and kissing.
THE POSSIBILITIES OF SAINTHOOD chronicles a brief glimpse into Antonia's life. With interesting snippits on the causes of various saints, the story moves along with amusing anecdotes from Antonia. Along the way, the reader learns of her secret crush on Andy Rotellini, as well as her confusing friendship with Michael. Antonia shares her angst caused by her three cousins, as well as her inability to become a living saint.
The story is quick and surprisingly educational for all. One doesn't have to be an Italian Catholic to appreciate the humor that Ms. Freitas generates with Antonia, who is sure to endear herself to everyone.
Antonia has two goals in life. Her first goal is to be the first living saint. Yes, you read that right. She wants to be a saint. So, in her quest to be the first living saint, she has launched a letter writing campaign that has been going on for years. Every month she'll write to the Vatican Committee and suggest what saint she could be. Then, every month, she receives a rejection letter. But, Antonia doesn't let that get her down. She just puts the letter up and starts on next months idea. The only people who know about her obsession is her best friend, Maria, her mother and her grandmother.
Antonia's second goal is to be kissed. Which almost happened once with her friend, Michael, but Antonia chickened out and ran away from him. So now, she still hasn't been kissed and she doesn't talk to Michael much anymore. Which isn't too bad, since the boys and girls go to separate schools. Antonia has a crush on a boy named Andy, who goes to the boy's school. But, Antonia thinks that Andy is out of her league. What Antonia doesn't expect, though is for her love life to get more confusing than she ever thought it could.
Antonia is a very quirky and likable character. I was kind of skeptical about this book at first, because I'm not Catholic and didn't know if the book would be preachy or I wouldn't understand some of the things going on. I'm glad I went ahead and picked it up, because the book is definitely not preachy. It's just your regular coming of age story, with a little bit of a twist. The letters that Antonia writes to the Vatican Committee are highly entertaining and kept me laughing. This is a very easy read. Hope to read more from Ms. Freitas in the future!
reposted: http://writersblockreviews.blogspot.com
Antonia's second goal is to be kissed. Which almost happened once with her friend, Michael, but Antonia chickened out and ran away from him. So now, she still hasn't been kissed and she doesn't talk to Michael much anymore. Which isn't too bad, since the boys and girls go to separate schools. Antonia has a crush on a boy named Andy, who goes to the boy's school. But, Antonia thinks that Andy is out of her league. What Antonia doesn't expect, though is for her love life to get more confusing than she ever thought it could.
Antonia is a very quirky and likable character. I was kind of skeptical about this book at first, because I'm not Catholic and didn't know if the book would be preachy or I wouldn't understand some of the things going on. I'm glad I went ahead and picked it up, because the book is definitely not preachy. It's just your regular coming of age story, with a little bit of a twist. The letters that Antonia writes to the Vatican Committee are highly entertaining and kept me laughing. This is a very easy read. Hope to read more from Ms. Freitas in the future!
reposted: http://writersblockreviews.blogspot.com
