Gretchen's Reviews > All the Way to America: The Story of a Big Italian Family and a Little Shovel

This would be a great mentor text for students who are doing some type of family tree project or family history project. This book clearly shows the connection from generation to generation and the pride in the values that are passed between them. One of the things I liked that I would recommend to young writers is to find some type of family treasure/object that has been passed down to children over the years like this author did with the little shovel. Having that object is a touchstone that can help to show the similarities and the differences between the generations. This can also, and was also done in this book, with a saying or quote from an ancestor that is still as important to the family today as it was then.