I'm Not Scared

I'm Not Scared is a devastatingly authentic portrayal of childhood.

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.

‘Niccolò Ammaniti is the best novelist of his generation.’ Il Giornale
‘Ammaniti, one of the most admired figures on the Italian fiction scene…uses short sentences like the cracks of a whip and sharp paragraphs to make our hearts race and carry us to the edge of the abyss.’ ABC, Spain
‘Readers will find this accomplished work hard to put down and even harder to forget.’ Publishers Weekly
‘A tense, breathless book, written with self-confidence and vitality.’ La Stampa