Rounding the Mark

Author’s Note

The names, characters, and situations represented in this novel are, of course, wholly invented.

The statistics on the illegal immigration of minors into Italy, on the other hand, are drawn from an investigation by Carmelo Abbate and Paolo Ciccioli, published in the September 19, 2002, edition of Panorama, and the information on the human traffickers derives from an article published in the September 26, 2002, edition of the Italian daily, La Repubblica . The story of the phony death was likewise suggested to me by a news item (Gazzetta del Sud, August 17, 20, and 24, 2002).