Stones in Water

Stones in Water is a 1997 work of young adult fiction by Donna Jo Napoli. Based loosely on a real account of children in concentration camps during World War II, it concerns the strife of four boys from Italy, Memo, Sergio, Roberto, and Samuele, who are sent to work in one of the camps. They work together to survive the conditions of the labor camp while trying to conceal that one of them is Jewish. The book chronicles the events leading up to the death of one of the boys, and their role in aiding each other’s survival and escape.

The book begins on a day in Italy, when Memo, a young boy originally from Venice, asks his friend Roberto to join him to see an American Western film in a local movie theater. Roberto accepts, and their Jewish friend, Samuele, tags along. It is the beginning of World War II, and the Nazi regime has begun its persecution of Jews and other minorities around Europe. Roberto and Memo seem not to care that they have a forbidden friendship with Samuele. The three boys agree to meet at a bridge in the middle of the town and walk together to the theater.

Roberto gets ready to leave, and is noticed by his brother, Sergio. Miffed at having not been invited, Sergio invites himself along with Memo, Roberto, and Samuele. When they reach the bridge, Sergio notices Samuele’s arm band depicting a Star of David, the required uniform for Jewish people, and is outraged that Roberto and Memo have invited a Jewish boy to the movie. He confiscates Samuele’s Star of David band and stuffs it in his pocket, ordering that they will walk separately in groups of two to the theater in order to reduce the chances of getting questioned by the police for possible mischief, which could prove catastrophic if they discover Samuele. Memo and Roberto walk together, while Sergio takes Samuele.



The boys reach the movie theater without incident. They sit in a row and start to relax as the movie starts. Moments later, a troop of Nazi soldiers break into the theater. Storming the entire town to collect prisoners, they sort the theater goers into groups by age, and put the young boys on trains heading North without telling them where they are going, leaving Sergio behind with Samuele’s Star of David armband. During the transit, the train stops frequently, and more processions of Italian boys file in. The boys start speculating about where they might be sent. At first thinking that they will be treated kindly as allies of Germany, they soon realize that the Germans consider them less than human when they indiscriminately shoot three Italian boys on a train platform.

Samuele suddenly rises and goes to the bathroom, gesturing for Memo and Roberto to follow. In the bathroom, Samuele says he intends to get off the train. Memo warns against the idea, saying that it is extremely dangerous and likely to single him out for extra inspection. Roberto warns that if an officer discovers that Samuele is circumcised, it will alert the Nazis that he is a Jew presenting illegally as a non-Jew. The boys rename Samuele to Enzo to make it appear that he is Catholic. Roberto also lets Samuele wear his St. Christopher medal. They also follow him on trips to the bathroom, flanking him while he urinates to hide his circumcision.

The three boys are moved to the labor camps in the Ukraine; Memo is separated from Roberto and Samuele. While Memo’s fate becomes unknown, the latter two are forced to work on an airstrip searching for bodies in the freezing climate. They subsist on small rations of bread, sausage, and cheese, and are allowed to strip any of the bodies they find for warmer clothes. One day, one of the other prisoner boys finds out that Samuele is a Jew and blackmails him, demanding his food rations. Roberto gives Samuele half of his own food rations to help him live. The two boys endure the many atrocities of the concentration camp, and are forced to build a large fenced area, learning later that the Germans intended to fill it with Jews. Roberto smuggles food each day to a girl who is starving with her sister in the pen they helped create. Despite their efforts to survive together, Samuele is murdered over a petty fight over a scavenged pair of German boots. Roberto manages to escape the camp, and treks alone across the desolate landscape of Ukraine, his fate ambiguous as the novel closes.



Stones of Water exposes its readers to the countless abominations committed by Nazis during World War II, showing how the regime disturbed the everyday lives of innocent children, alienated them from their homes, and subjected them to state-sponsored atrocity. The story meditates on the absurdity of the fact that the conditions of unimaginable suffering can emerge rapidly in stable and happy communities that are violated by powerful regimes. It is also a story about the human capacity for resilience in the face of despair, showing that the instinct for survival depends on, rather than outright rejects, values of kindness and self-sacrifice.