Peppe Goes to America by Analise Ilsley, Jason Valentini, and Lorenzo Santor
Once upon a time, there was a donkey called Peppe. He grew up on small farm in southern Italy with the loving Mancuso family. The Mancuso’s did not have much and dreamed of travelling to America one day where they can start a new life.
On the day of his fifth birthday, Peppe overheard the great news. The Mancuso’s are finally going to America and they are bringing Peppe too!
The last day on the boat, Peppe imagined a sea of milk filled with floating carrots and gold coins.
After the long journey, they finally made it to America, and will soon be entering through Ellis Island. However, upon entry, he finds out the only way he could stay was if he worked on a construction site.
The first day on the job, he meets an Italian immigrant named Geremio. They become best friends.
After a few months, Peppe felt at home. He was given a nickname and had dinner with his friends. But life wasn’t easy.
All of a sudden there was a big accident at the construction site, and Peppe decided it was time for him to leave New York.
Upon arriving in Los Angeles, Peppe found a hotel in Bunker Hill that allows donkeys to stay. It is there where he meets an Italian American writer called Arturo Bandini.
Peppe finally realizes in order to be happy, he must be himself and embrace his own identity as an Italian donkey.
But, just as Peppe got settled in Bunker Hill, an enormous earthquake rattled the city, completely changing the life of Peppe the donkey.
Being scared of earthquakes and hearing of the fishing south of Los Angeles, Peppe travels to the beautiful, sunny San Diego.
There he meets Gino and the entire DeMarino family and experiences a beautiful wedding and a wonderful Christmas celebration, filled with Italian- American traditions
Although still struggling with his own identity like his best friend Gino, Peppe finally feels at home and thinks he has really experienced the American Dream.
Even as an Italian- donkey immigrant, he managed to stay true to himself...
One day, a man named Peppe Voltarelli heard the legend of the Italian donkey, living in San Diego’s Little Italy, and was determined to find him.
Before finishing his journey, Peppe took a stop at a SDSU Honors Italian course to gain some more information on Peppe the donkey. Unfortunately, they were too shy to really help.
Peppe finally meets Peppe the donkey, and they talked for hours about what being an Italian immigrant means and how to find your identity in a country filled with so many different people from different places.
And at last they sang a song together, and it sounded perfect. THE END
