Before Nightfall - Paperback

by Silvia Vecchini (Author), Sualzo (Illustrator), Geoffrey Brock (Translator)

A moving tale about a brave hearing-impaired teen losing his vision, told through the perspective of his loving sister in poetry, prose, and the sign-language alphabet.

Carlo is a teenager who happens to be hearing-impaired and can see only out of one eye. Now that eye is failing, and Carlo must have an operation to try to save his vision. His fierce and funny sister Emma, Carlo's closest companion, begins writing poems that express the fear she works hard to hide, while his seeing-eye dog Lulù remains steadfastly at his side. But even with the support and affection of his family, how can Carlo face such uncertainty? And what will happen if he can no longer communicate with them? Before Nightfall is a book about trust, imagination, empathy, and language, narrated through the poems Emma types and through prose passages told from multiple perspectives and illustrated with sign-language alphabet, drawn by the Italian artist Sualzo. Despite the immense challenges Carlo and Emma face, their story is one of hope and wonder.

Author Biography

Silvia Vecchini was born in 1975 in Perugia. She loves poetry and has written several books for children and young adults. She regularly holds workshops and events based on her works, as well as designs courses for schools and runs teacher trainings.

Antonio "Sualzo" Vincenti is an author and comics illustrator. He won the Festi'DB di Moulins in 2009, best screenplay category, for L'Improvvisatore, and was named finalist in the Micheluzzi Award in 2010.

Geoffrey Brock is the author of two books of poetry, most recently Voices Bright Flags, and the translator of a number of books, including the NYRB Classics and NYR Children's Collection editions of Carlo Collodi's Pinnochio and the NYRC edition of The Tenderness of Stones.