PICK AND SHOVEL POET
The Journeys of Pascal D’Angelo

ISBN: 0395776104 (hardcover)
Clarion Books/Houghton Mifflin
Age: 9-14
Non-fiction

The inspiring story of a young Italian peasant who immigrated to America is used to illuminate the experience of many immigrants who came to this country in the early twentieth century. Pascal D’Angelo, like so many others who came before and after him, left behind a hard life in Italy to embark on an even harder one in America. Taking the only job available to him -- that of a manual laborer hauling rock and building roads and railroads -- and despite poverty, prejudice, and hunger, Pascal never lost his sense of wonder at the world around him. Yearning for an outlet to express himself, D’Angelo fervently went about the task of learning to read and write, teaching himself English from newspapers and poetry books and ultimately becoming a respected poet himself.

Augmented with references to other immigrants and their individual and collective stories, and accompanied by archival photos, this moving story of one man’s accomplishments is also the universal story of all American immigrants who helped build our nation.

Kirkus: "A biography of a common man that is also the history of a civilization and its times."

Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA): "Murphy shows Pascal as an immigrant Everyman. Much of present-day America has its roots in the men and women of Pascal's generation. This book will appeal to young adults interested in acquiring a sensory and emotional as well as an objective understanding of the immigrant's world. It is an inspirational account of raw courage and the power of hope."

School Library Journal (starred): "An important, inspiring, and well-documented book."

Booklist: "Murphy sets his passionate biography in a historical context that broadens the book's scope. Detailed early chapters give a strong sense of the emotional and physical stamina it took for poor Italian farmers to leave their families and homeland, and the often-nightmarish experiences, from Ellis Island to building the railroads that awaited them in their new land. D'Angelo proves an inspiring figure who maintained his optimism despite financial hardship, ethnic discrimination, and crippling labor. The poet's works are brief and few, but this reverent biography is filled with his indomitable spirit".

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