November 16, 2022

Beautiful Way: a Novel
Mary Van der Linden
MarVelous Books (2022)
ISBN: 979-8-9867915-0-0
979-8-9867915-1-7 (ebook)

Young Adult Novel Encourages Exploring Other Cultures

Beautiful Way is an exciting new young adult novel by Mary Van der Linden that explores cultural and religious differences between people and teaches tolerance and understanding over bullying when we encounter people who are different from us.

The story begins when Natalie Stevens, an eighth-grader in North Carolina, is excited to meet her new neighbors, the Bellavias. Natalie’s mother was friends with Mrs. Bellavia when they were teenagers and helped her adjust to life in the United States after she moved there from Italy. Now, Natalie is curious if she and Mrs. Bellavia’s daughter, Patrizia, will also become such good friends, especially since Natalie has been assigned to be Patrizia’s student buddy to help her get acquainted with her new school.

Natalie can’t help liking Patrizia from the moment they meet at the bus stop, but as soon as they get on the bus and a boy named Ernie starts calling Patrizia “Fat Pat,” Natalie knows she will have her work cut out for her to try to make Patrizia feel welcomed at the now ironically named Friendly Academy.

Patrizia survives the first day of school despite the name calling, and soon Natalie is spending a lot of time at Patrizia’s house, meeting her younger brother, Mario, and twin sisters, Frankie and Isa, and getting a taste of Mrs. Bellavia’s delicious Italian cooking.

But Ernie turns out to be relentlessly mean. Even though Patrizia’s classmates befriend her, Ernie won’t stop making fun of her. When he tricks Mario into thinking he is Patrizia’s friend to get Mario to reveal family secrets so he can make further fun of Patrizia, Natalie and all the Bellavias are horrified. Fortunately, Ernie’s father is more mature than his son, which leads to a chain of events that will change how all the characters get along and grow to understand one another despite their flaws and differences.

At the heart of the novel is Natalie’s interest in other cultures. She is enthralled to learn Italian words and sample Italian cooking. She also becomes interested in the Catholicism the Bellavias practice although she is Methodist herself. When a Jewish boy named Josh joins Patrizia and Natalie’s circle, they also learn about eating kosher and celebrating Jewish holidays. Beyond modeling tolerance and acceptance of other people’s religions, Beautiful Way encourages young people to be open to learning about different cultures and beliefs in ways that promote understanding and new perspectives from which to see their own lives.

Natalie’s interest in Catholicism is partly triggered by religious artwork in the Bellavias’ home that inspires her to want to take art lessons. Musical theatre and opera also become features of the novel that the characters explore, as well as sports and exercise as they all learn what gifts they have that they can use to help one another.

The book’s title is the translation of the Bellavias’ name, but it also has greater significance in the novel, including showing the beautiful way the characters demonstrate how to get along with each other.

Mary Van der Linden has tackled a difficult topic with this book—religion is something many authors will shy away from—but she carries off the message beautifully, never being preachy, never getting into the details of religious doctrine, but providing enough atmosphere to make the characters’ interactions and interests in people of different backgrounds both believable and poignant. Van der Linden was herself raised Catholic but married a Jewish husband so she has lived the very topics she writes about.

Beautiful Way is like an updated version of Judy Blume’s classic Are You There, God? It’s Me Margaret for the twenty-first century. It will encourage readers to explore outside their comfort zones whether it be religion, culture, food, sports, the arts, or any number of things, which can only lead to the enrichment of their lives.

For more about Beautiful Way and Mary Van der Linden, find her book at Amazon.

— Tyler R. Tichelaar, PhD and award-winning author of The Only Thing That Lasts