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Niccolò Ammaniti’s I’m Not Scared is exciting from start to finish.  Michele Amitrano is nine years old and exploring the countryside around his tiny Italian community on his treasured bicycle when he discovers what he takes to be the corpse of a boy in a pit.

Michele tells nobody but, on a later visit, finds that the boy is alive but unable to explain how he came to be there. We slowly come to understand that he is Milanese, victim of the kidnappings that were rife in the seventies. Most of Michele’s community and even his own family are involved in the attempt to extort money from a rich Milanese family.

Michele himself never totally understands what he is relating, nor does he understand the danger, for himself, of his involvement in the kidnapping. As the story develops, we see how the crime destroys Michele’s own family. The climax is thrilling when Michele decides to act to help Filippo,to escape.

This superbly narrated novel, which has sold more than a million copies in over twenty languages, has been made into a film starring the real inhabitants of an Italian village rather than established stars.

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