From "A CELEBRATION OF ITALIAN AMERICAN LIFE"
Primo Magazine, March 2004

I LOVE YOU LIKE A TOMATO
Marie Giordano
Forge Books
$24.95 Hard Cover

A coming-of-age story, Marie Giordano's I Love You Like a Tomato traces the development of Lettizia (ChiChi) Maggiordino from 1948 war-ravaged southern Italy to 1964 Minneapolis. A compelling character, ChiChi narrates the family story, beginning with memories of her mountainside village of Praiano, where her mother is shunned by the community for bearing a second child out of wedlock. Leaving the shame-sanctioned village of her birth, Giuseppina (ChiChi's mother), Nonna, and the two children head for La Merica - St. Paul, Minnesota, to be exact. With humor, passion, and verbal acumen, ChiChi relays the suffering and indignities heaped upon her mother after they are rejected by her American husband's family and abandoned in a new world. Surviving seven years in an impoverished ethnic ghetto called Tar Town, ChiChi uses her grandmother's belief in Il Mal Occhio to keep her asthmatic brother alive and her mother safe from freeloading men.

While Giordano uses humor to portray ChiChi's willful nature, the author also explores the difficulties of being a first-generation Italian in 1950s Minneapolis. Unable to assist in her daughter's development, Giuseppina spends most of her time surviving economically, leaving ChiChi and her brother, Marco, to their own resources. After Nonna dies, ChiChi continues to evoke her presence, recalling her grandmother's imperative to "be brave and do hard things." Surviving her own tendencies toward self-flagellation, ChiChi enters adulthood nurtured by her protective and kind brother, by Mr. Looz, her compare, and by Italian dwarfs from the circus, Onna and Omo, who teach ChiChi "to live on purpose" as she prepares for a career in dance and clown performance in the tradition of Commedia dell'arte. Giordano's novel is an important addition to Italian American literature, beautifully written and wonderfully narrated.
-by MaryJo Bona

Publisher's Weekly:
A prolific author of nonfiction, children's literature and poetry (Slow Dance on Stilts), Giordano produces a raucous, crowd-pleasing account of a Sicilian immigrant girl who grows up in the Twin Cities after WWII. Leticcia Sapponata Maggiordino-"ChiChi"-and her younger, asthmatic brother, Marco, and grandmother Nonna follow ChiChi's mother from their peasant village to Ameri ca, where they settle in the rough Italian ghetto of Tar Town. ChiChi devotes herself to keeping her sickly brother alive; the two live by their wits (and fists) in the ethnically diverse Catholic neighborhood, defending each other from gangs who abhor the Italians, while remaining wary of their mother's ferocious temper. Gradually, the family assimilates into American 1950s life: Nonna finds a suitor at the local grocery store; Mamma runs through a succession of hapless married boyfriends who adore her cooking; Marco excels as an artist; and ChiChi assuages her need for affection by milking laughs, becoming the protoge of a pair of aging Hollywood dwarfs who teach her commedia dell'arte. Giordano paints her characters in broad, exaggerated strokes: Mamma sings "O Sole Mio" at restaurants; ChiChi masters the use of the evil eye as vendetta. It's pure corn, but the effect is uproarious. The conclusion has Marco headed with his model wife to Hollywood as ChiChi hits the stage in New York. A sequel seems just around the corner. (July) Forecast: The spunky title is a good match for what lies inside. This is the first volume in a projected trilogy, and should establish a solid fan base for the next two installments. ...It's a perfect candidate for handselling. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal:
This debut novel by the author of many nonfiction, poetry, and children's books follows the early life of ChiChi Maggiordino, who emigrates from Italy to join her father in Minneapolis following World War II. ChiChi's Mamma has been rejected by her husband's family, and the Maggiordinos are forced to endure shocking hardships to make a living before they find acceptance in an Italian neighborhood called Tar Town. Throughout grade school and high school, ChiChi struggles with being different-she is convinced that she can take revenge on people who have harmed her or her family by using the Evil Eye. Eventually, she finds an outlet in acting that brings her success in school plays and, following high school, dancing in night clubs. Before going to New York to pursue an acting career, ChiChi discovers a secret that Mamma has kept from her and her brother, Marco, and realizes that even the Evil Eye cannot always protect her and her family. As Mamma observes, "Life, when you stupid, will show you no mercy." Many of Giordano's characters are inspiring, especially Mamma, giving an first of three books on the Maggiordino family. Recommended for all collections.

Booksense:
* I LOVE YOU LIKE A TOMATO by Marie Giordano (Forge, hd. 24.95) "Giordano is an original voice who has created an aromatic and nutty world set in post-WWII Chicago. It is told from the perspective of ChiChi, who as a young child crossed the Atlantic from Southern Italy, and surrounded by the backdrop of Italian-American Chicago, 'I Love You Like a Tomato' is a vibrant example of an immigrant family's struggle to find the American Dream."

I LOVE YOU LIKE A TOMATO; a Booksense 76 "Great Book Pick."

"Marie Giordano has written a wondrous book heaped high with joy and sorrow, warm and spicy as a bowl of meatball zuppa. I've long since closed the book, but the characters have been walking around with me ever since."
--Greg Garrett
Author, "Free Bird"

I LOVE YOU LIKE A TOMATO is by turns sweet and sad, poignant and hilarious -- in short, the perfect blend one looks for in a good book. Combine this fact with ChiChi's wonderfully true voice, and we end up with a coming-of-age novel that stands full and alive and well worth the read. Three cheers for volume one of the ChiChi trilogy!
--Bret Lott
Author, "Jewel"

"An original voice, an incredible talent. Every word shines like a polished tomato. I could taste and smell the suasage, the summering sauces, and the romano cheese on every page. Giordano stirs her unique words and phrases without once letting the pot burn dry. Her use of language is in the tradition of Annie Proulx, Arundhati Roy and Toni Morrison. I loved this book!
--James Fickett

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