I chose not to italicize the Italian words and phrases throughout this book. I wanted the characters’ speech to flow seamlessly between American English and Italian given they are first-generation Italian-Americans. In addition to Italian, I used Italian-American slang (e.g. capisce, goomar, stunad, etc.) to lend authenticity to the regional Italian-American experience. Any mistakes in the application of Italian or Italian-American slang are entirely my own, but the sins were committed despite my best intentions as well as the heroic efforts of my two Italian-language reviewers, Giulia and Sara, who were incredibly patient with my misapplication of mia and mio and my rampant use of the word capisce.