I'm Not Scared

Winner of the prestigious 2001 Viareggio-Repaci Prize for Fiction.

1978, the hottest summer of the twentieth century. In a tiny Italian rural community, the adults shelter indoors while six children venture out on their bikes across the scorched, deserted countryside. In the midst of a sea of golden wheat, nine-year-old Michele Amitrano discovers a secret so momentous, so terrible, that he dare not tell anyone about it. To come to terms with what he finds, he will have to draw strength from his own imagination and sense of humanity.

The reader witnesses a dual story—the one that is seen through Michele's eyes, and the tragedy involving the adults of this isolated hamlet. The result is an immensely powerful, lyrical and skilfully narrated novel, reminiscent of such classics as Stand By Me, To Kill a Mockingbird and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

A compelling and utterly absorbing read, I'm Not Scared reinforces Ammaniti's status as a major literary talent.