It’s Meet the Author Monday! Each week we meet a new author and get to know a little about them, their writing process, publishing experience, and tips for other writers. Today we’re talking to Antoinette Truglio Martin, author of The Heart of Bakers and Artists (aka Daily Bread), Becoming America’s Food Stories, and The Dreams of Singers and Sluggers (coming in the Fall of 2021).
About Antoinette Truglio Martin:
Antoinette Truglio Martin is a speech therapist and special education teacher by training but really wants to be a writer when she grows up. She has been collecting and writing stories forever. Over the years Antoinette had been a regular columnist in local periodicals and had several essays featured in newsletters and literary reviews.
Antoinette’s popular children’s picture book, Famous Seaweed Soup was published in 1993 (Albert Whitman Co.). Antoinette’s memoir, Hug Everyone You Know: A Year of Community, Courage, and Cancer (She Writes Press 2017), chronicles her first year battling breast cancer as a wimpy patient. Becoming America’s Stories (Red Penguin Books) a Middle-Grade Historical Fiction series, debut in 2020. The award-winning first book, The Heart of Bakers and Artists, takes place in 1911 and follows nine-year-old Lily Taglia, an American-born child of Sicilian immigrants, coming of age in a crowded New York City three-room Lower East Side tenement. The Dreams of Singers and Sluggers picks up where The Heart of Bakers and Artists leaves off. Lily, her family and friends reach for their dreams as new Americans. Read Becoming America’s Food Stories where there are always good stories around good food.
Antoinette proudly holds an MFA in Creative Writing and Literature from Stony Brook/Southampton University (2016). Be sure to stop by her website and blog, Stories Served Around The Table at https://antoinettetrugliomartin.com/, to read about past and present family adventures, book happenings, and life musings.
About The Heart of Bakers and Artists:
It is 1911, and nine-year-old Lily, an American-born child of Sicilian immigrants loves to sing, and wants to, has to, prove she is not a little kid. She and her large family are crammed into a three-room flat in New York City’s Lower East Side. Everyone must do their share to help out. Big sister Betta sews home piece work and bossy Margaret bakes discounted Daily Bread at Goldberg’s bakery for the Taglia family. Lily wants to do more than dry dishes, keep little sister Gigi out from underfoot, and not make her sisters or Mama crazy with her singing. When Mrs. Goldberg, the baker’s wife, notices Lily’s height and recognizes her artist heart, she invites Lily to learn how to bake Daily Bread with Margaret. Lily is thrilled to have a big kid job in the magical bakery basement where Mrs. Goldberg dances and gives away sweet Knot Surprises. Mama thinks this is a good arrangement too. Now Margaret can quit school to work in a factory for a wage. But Margaret likes school and wants to be a somebody. Besides, she says Lily is just a little kid, and there’s more to baking Daily Bread than height and an artist’s heart. Mama stands firm and Lily tags-a-long with Margaret only to learn that being a big kid is fraught with bullies, disasters, and treacherous streets to cross by herself.
About Becoming America’s Food Stories:
Tales shared through and within generations define our heritage, provide us with empathy over transgressions, and celebrate our adventures. They are as essential as the food that feeds our bodies. Stories fuel our souls. Family food stories are especially rich.
I am blessed with a large, loud and loving family tribe. We enjoy our Sunday dinners and special occasions together. The stories of our ancestors were and still are told around the dinner table. Sitting down surrounded by multi-generations of relations was just as sustaining as the familiar foods served. The memories added spice to our nourishment. Versions of the truth are flushed out as we pass the sauce, laugh out loud, sip wine and dab stained lips.
I included favorite recipes to accompany the stories. The recipes that evolved from the immigration experience to today may differ in procedures, but share taste preferences and a comfort.
Grab a glass of wine. Enjoy the reminiscences, recipes, and love.