I'm Not Scared

Niccolo Ammaniti

Nine-year-old Michele lives in a tiny community in the southern Italy countryside. He and his friends have very little to do in the hot, dry summer. They make up new games and new dares. Skull, the leader of the group, tends to bully the others. Michele takes on a dare that Skull was trying to have someone else perform. While he is finishing his dare at an old farmhouse, he makes an amazing discovery.

Michele keeps the secret for himself. Did he really see what he thought he saw? He goes home with his sister. Papa is a truck driver who is rarely home. Mama is upset because Maria is hurt and has broken her glasses again. As the older brother, Michele stoically takes Mama's complaints.

The next day Michele goes back to the old farmhouse they had visited the day before. He looked again. He wasn't correct the day before. It was worse. Now Michele has a dilemma. Papa gets home. Michele wants to tell Papa, but doesn't have a chance. A strange old man comes to stay with them. Meanwhile, Michele sneaks back to the old farmhouse as often as he can. He learns more than he ever wanted to know. Soon he is caught between Papa and his own conscience.

I'm Not Scared is a tale of a turning point in a boy's life. It is written in first person narrative from Michele's point of view. Michele has a horrible secret. When he finally tries to tell, the revelation backfires on him. Although told in a simple voice, this is a beguiling story. I was never comfortable reading the book. But I needed to know what happened. I still need to know. The ending leaves the reader hanging with more questions. I read an English translation of this Italian novel. If it lost anything in translation, the English reader won't notice.