Tempting Faith DiNapoli

At heart, Faith DiNapoli is a good Catholic girl. She's memorized all the prayers and hymns. She daydreams about her First Communion. She's pretty sure Jesus loves her. But she's angry. Angry with her father for leaving, her mother for never going anywhere, and her dysfunctional siblings -- just because they're around. And though she knows the Bible says the meek are blessed, Faith can't help but covet beautiful things and try to obtain them in any way possible. So Faith lies, cheats, and steals. In fact, she breaks almost every one of the Commandments, mostly by accident. At the same time, she grapples with the girl she thinks she should be, the family she's supposed to be a part of, and the imaginary life she may never live.

In Tempting Faith DiNapoli, Faith does more than grow from innocent eight to headstrong eighteen. Faith struggles with her new bad habits, fends off bad boys who want more than she should give, and contemplates a future that looks worse than her mother's past and present.

The DiNapolis are mismatched, broke, and dysfunctional, but they fight with and love one another with equal parts ferocity and devotion, laughter and tears. All the while, Faith prays for a happy ending. Or at least for something not too, too bad.

One part Beverly Donofrio, one part Frank McCourt, Tempting Faith DiNapoli is a charming, fresh, bighearted debut.

Lisa Gabriele is a television producer, cinematographer, and writer. Her work has appeared on the CBC, the History Channel and the Life Network. Her writing has appeared in Vice Magazine and The Washington Post, among other publications, and she is a frequent contributor to Nerve magazine. Gabriele lives in Toronto's Little Italy.