Filippo, Me and the Cherry Tree

Paola Peretti is Italian and lives in Verona. She studied Literature and Philosophy and graduated in Publishing and Journalism in 2011 with a thesis on gender discrimination in literature. She attended the Palomar School of creative writing in Rovigo. She has worked as a waitress, bartender, babysitter and teacher, also writing articles for the local newspaper.Fifteen years ago she discovered she had a rare genetic illness called Stargardt Disease which causes progressive vision loss, and can cause eventual blindness. There is no cure to date. Paola's experience of living with loss of vision is the inspiration for her writing.She currently teaches Italian to immigrant children from Senegal, Nigeria, China, Romania, India, Pakistan, Brazil, Moldova and Russia.

Full of beautifully rich description and insight, Filippo, Me and the Cherry Tree tells the story of Mafalda navigating life as a visually impaired teenager. Like most young people, friendships are everything to her. When mean girl teasing pushes her best friend Filippo away, Mafalda is challenged to hold on to her positive outlook. With the help of new friends, she learns to be brave and honest about what she really wants.This lovely story bridges the Teen gap between Middle Grade and Young Adult. Relationships become more complicated, friendships turn into something more and choices become all that more difficult.