Granny Torrelli Makes Soup is a realistic fiction novel written by Newberry Award winner Sharon Creech and published in 2003. This heartwarming story explores the changing relationship between 12-year-old Rosie and her best friend, Bailey. Rosie's Granny Torrelli helps Rosie and Bailey understand the changing dynamics of adolescent friendship by sharing memories of friendship and loyalty from her childhood in Italy.
Granny Torrelli Makes Soup is a story inspired by Creech's memories of her childhood, learning important life lessons from her grandmother while cooking Italian meals together. This novel, written at a fourth to fifth-grade reading level with a Lexile rating of 810L, teaches the reader that the power of true friendship, acceptance, and understanding can overcome the obstacles of anger and jealousy.
The novel includes several important characters (person, animal, creature, or thing that is the story's subject). These characters are:
| Characters | Pickburr Street Setting |
|---|---|
| Rosie | Twelve-year-old girl who lives with her Mom and Pop – She is best friends with Bailey, the boy who grew up next door. Rosie is strong-willed and stubborn, especially when it comes to Bailey. She has always been his protector, but as they grow older, things change. With the arrival of Janine, Rosie is afraid that she is losing her best friend. |
| Bailey | Twelve-year-old boy who is Rosie's best friend – He was born with a sight impairment and is almost blind. Bailey has always allowed Rosie to guide and help him, but as he reaches adolescence, he becomes more independent. He is tall and strong for his age and has drawn the attention of Janine, the new girl in the neighborhood. |
| Granny Torrelli | Rosie's Italian grandmother – She often comes to stay with Rosie when her parents are busy, and when she does, they like to cook together. Granny Torrelli is very perceptive and insightful. She helps Rosie deal with her problems by sharing her childhood memories in Italy. Granny Torrelli moved to America with her uncle when she was 16 years old. |
| Carmelita | Bailey's single mother – Carmelita's husband left because he could not accept his blind son. When Bailey was younger, she worried about his safety and his blindness, so she relied on Rosie to help Bailey learn how to do things without sight. |
| Janine | Twelve-year-old girl who moves into the house across the street from Bailey's house – She is outgoing, curious, and overly friendly. She begins to spend a lot of time with Bailey, and it seems that she develops a crush on him. Rosie becomes very jealous of the amount of attention Janine gives Bailey. |
| Characters | Italian Village Setting |
|---|---|
| Pardo | Granny Torrelli's childhood best friend – He and Granny Torrelli had the same type of relationship as Rosie has with Bailey. As small children, they were inseparable friends, but as they grew older, Pardo's feelings deepened. When Granny Torrelli decided to move to America, Pardo asked her to stay in Italy and marry him, but she wanted adventure. They had a terrible fight and never spoke again. Pardo was hit and killed by a train shortly after she left. Granny Torrelli deeply regrets that she never spoke to Pardo after their fight. |
| Violetta | A beautiful young girl who came to live with her aunt in Granny Torrelli's village – Violetta developed a crush on Pardo, and Granny Torrelli was angry at the attention and interference in their friendship. |
| Marco | A cute boy who came to live with his grandmother in Granny Torrelli's village – He immediately found Granny Torrelli "enchanting" and began to shower her with attention. This, in turn, made Pardo very jealous. |
| Gattozzi Baby | The baby girl of a neighbor in Granny Torrelli's village – Granny tells the story of the baby becoming very sick with fever during the time of the friendship drama between Granny Torrelli and Pardo. Taking care of the sick baby taught Granny Torrelli that she needed to be grateful for and not take for granted the blessings she had in her life -- especially Pardo. |
The setting of Granny Torrelli Makes Soup changes throughout the story. When Rosie narrates her story, the setting is in her home or neighborhood on Pickburr Street. When Granny Torrelli shares her childhood memories, the setting is the Italian village where she lived before coming to America.
The story begins with an argument between Rosie and Bailey, her best friend and next-door neighbor. The two have literally grown up with each other. Bailey, born with a sight impairment, is legally blind, so Rosie has always put herself in charge of protecting him. She considers herself to be his "eyes" and teaches him how to do the things that other children are doing. Rosie is very devoted and headstrong in her desire to help. But the one thing that Rosie cannot teach Bailey is how to read Braille. This is something that Bailey has learned on his own at his school. Rosie desperately wants to be able to share this experience with Bailey, so for months, she secretly learns how to read Braille from a teacher at her school.
When the day finally comes that she can reveal her surprise, Rosie does not get the reaction she had anticipated. Bailey is actually quite irritated that Rosie has taken away the one thing that he could do on his own, and so he says, "You think you are pretty smart, don't you, Rosie? Well, get over yourself." Rosie is hurt because she doesn't understand his reaction and shows her frustration by saying, "That Bailey, I hate him today."
That evening, Rosie's grandmother comes to visit. Rosie idolizes her grandmother, who seems to understand Rosie's thoughts and moods. Granny Torrelli decides they should make zuppa (Italian for soup) together. As they are preparing the soup, Granny Torrelli convinces Rosie to tell her about the argument with Bailey. Granny Torrelli then shares memories of her childhood best friend, Pardo. By sharing some of her own mistakes in her friendship, Granny Torrelli is able to help Rosie realize that she has been overly protective of Bailey and that as he grows older, he needs to assert his independence and do things on his own.
Rosie decides they should share the soup with Bailey and his mother, Carmelita, to apologize for the misunderstanding. When they take the dinner to the neighbor's house, Bailey also apologizes to Rosie by giving her a piece of paper with "I'm sorry" written in Braille, restoring their close friendship -- for about a week.
Janine, a new girl, moves into Rosie's neighborhood right across the street from Bailey. Janine is pretty and outgoing. She is also very talkative and a little pushy, and she quickly befriends both Rosie and Bailey. She tends to be much more demonstrative in her attention to Bailey, suggesting that Janine has a crush on him. Rosie becomes incredibly jealous of the new friendship, which brings out her "inner tiger," expressing hostility toward Janine. When she finds out that Bailey has offered to teach Janine how to read Braille, she is also hurt and angry at Bailey.
Once again, Granny Torrelli's words of wisdom save the day. Granny Torrelli comes for another visit and decides they will make Cavatelli pasta this time. She tells Rosie to invite Bailey over to help make the pasta. As the two begin, Granny Torrelli reminds Rosie that she needs to teach Bailey how to make the dough himself rather than do it for him. While the children make the pasta dish, Granny Torrelli shares more childhood memories.
She tells them about Violetta, a pretty young girl who came to stay in her village and quickly developed a crush on her best friend. Pardo loved the all-new attention, making Granny Torrelli very angry. In a fit of jealousy, Granny Torrelli convinced Violetta to let her cut off her beautiful long hair in hopes that she would lose her appeal. The plan backfired, and Violetta looked even more beautiful with the shorter cut. As she is telling the story, Bailey sees the correlation between Granny Torrelli's memory and his relationship with Rosie and realizes that she may also be jealous of Janine.
Granny Torrelli continues her tale by sharing that soon after Violetta's arrival, Marco, a cute, friendly boy, moved to her village. Finding Granny Torrelli "enchanting," he wanted to spend all his time with her. This, in turn, made Pardo very jealous and angry. Hearing the story, Bailey once again realizes the connection prompting him to say, "the shoe was on the other foot."
Remarkably, just as Granny Torrelli finishes her tale, a moving van pulls up to the curb. A new family with two boys the same age as Rosie and Bailey are moving into the yellow house across the street from Bailey. Rosie describes one of the boys playing basketball to Bailey and tells him that maybe she will ask the new boy to teach her how to play, causing a spark of jealousy in Bailey.
Granny Torrelli finishes her story by telling Rosie and Bailey about Baby Gattozzi, a baby girl in her village that became very sick with a fever. For two days, Granny Torrelli cuddled and sang to the baby. Finally, on the third day, the fever broke, and the baby's health improved. After fearing for the baby's life, Granny Torrelli tells the children, "My life was a little bigger," because she realized how vindictive and wrong she had been. The complicated friendship situation between Pardo and her resolved itself when Violetta and Marco returned to their homes, leaving Pardo and Granny Torrelli with a better appreciation for each other.
Again, sharing her story helps Rosie and Bailey realize that their friendship is much too important to let jealousy and anger ruin it. The three plan a pasta party for the next day serving the Cavatelli pasta dinner to their families, Janine and the new neighbor's family. Sitting at the table enjoying the pasta and conversation, Rosie realizes how truly blessed she is to have family, friends, and good health. As she looks across the table, Granny Torrelli shares her feelings as she whispers, Tutto va bene -- all is well.
Granny Torrelli Makes Soup by Sharon Creech is a realistic fiction story written at the 4th-5th grade reading level. There are many important characters (person, animal, creature, or thing that is the subject of a story) that are introduced throughout the novel. While making soup and pasta with Granny Torrelli, Rosie and her best friend, Bailey, learn valuable life lessons about the importance of friendship. Rosie, hurt by Bailey's anger with her for secretly learning Braille, tells Granny Torrelli, "That Bailey, I hate him today." Granny Torrelli can help Rosie understand Bailey's feelings and his need for independence by sharing memories of her relationship with her own childhood best friend, Pardo. Rosie and Granny Torrelli decide to take the soup they made over to Bailey and Carmelita's house to apologize for the misunderstanding.
Later in the story, another conflict occurs when Rosie is jealous of the attention that Janine, an overly friendly new girl in the neighborhood, is giving to Bailey. Again, Granny Torrelli shares her childhood tale of jealousy toward Violetta, a girl who moved next door to Pardo in her village and developed a crush on her best friend. She explains how she overcame her jealousy after sitting with a very sick Gattozzi Baby for two days. Fearing the baby would not survive, Granny Torrelli shared that her "life had gotten a little bigger" when she realized the importance of her friendship with Pardo and the foolishness of her jealousy. Granny Torrelli's memories help Rosie and Bailey understand the strength of their lifelong friendship can overcome the obstacles of anger and jealousy.
''That Bailey, I hate him today.'' This is how we are introduced to Bailey, one of the main characters in Sharron Creech's Granny Torrelli Makes Soup. Bailey, we learn, is blind--or nearly so. Rosie is his best friend who lives next door, and it is through her voice that we hear this story. At the beginning, the two friends have had a fight, and Rosie is fuming. Her grandmother, Granny Torrelli, comes to look after her one night when her parents are both working. Granny suggests they make soup (zuppa in Italian)--but cooking isn't all granny has in mind!
Granny Torrelli is the kind of person who can tell something is wrong just by looking at you, so she figures out something is bothering Rosie pretty quickly. ''You going to tell me what's making your eyes so inside-looking?'' she asks Rosie. Like most 12 year olds, Rosie doesn't just spill the beans right away. ''It's just that Bailey,'' she says instead. Without prying, Granny manages to get the whole story from Rosie while they make soup. Rosie and Bailey have had a fight. Rosie spent a year learning how to read Braille. She was thinking it would be an exciting surprise for Bailey, but instead Bailey was angry and told Rosie to get over herself. Rosie, hurt, storms out of his house and he slams the door behind her.
When Rosie is at first reluctant to talk much about her fight with Bailey, granny starts telling her about her friend, Pardo. Granny and Pardo were the best of friends as kids just like Rosie and Bailey. When Granny turned 16, she was given the opportunity to leave Italy with her uncle to start a new life in the United States. She was excited, but Pardo was sad and didn't want her to go. The two had an argument and Granny left in a huff. She went home and packed her suitcase. She did not talk to Pardo again before she left. She did not write to him and he did not write to her. Then, one day, she got a letter saying that Pardo had died in an accident. Granny cries as she tells Rosie this--she is still sad to this day that she allowed her stubbornness to prevent her from making up with her friend.
Just as making the soup helps Rosie to talk through her problems with Granny, the soup in the end helps Rosie and Bailey to mend their relationship. After hearing about Pardo and seeing how sad Granny is that they never repaired their friendship, Rosie decides they should bring some of the soup over to Bailey and his mother, Carmelita. When they do, Rosie runs up to Bailey to apologize to him, and he presents her with a simple message written in Braille: ''I'm sorry,'' it reads.
Without ever saying so out loud, Granny helps Rosie to understand that Bailey was a bit hurt by her learning Braille because it was the one thing he could do that she couldn't. It didn't really have anything to do with her, it was just him feeling self conscious about his own limitations. Granny's story teaches Rosie that ''a friend like Pardo does not come along every day.'' Rosie sees that her friendship with Bailey is more important than any argument they might have.
Just one week later, Rosie gets a chance to put this lesson about the importance of friendship to the test. A new girl moves into town. Her name is Janine. She is very friendly--especially to Bailey. Rosie is fraught with jealousy, and she struggles with different feelings. She calls herself an ''ice queen'' when she is feeling cold and defensive, and she calls herself a ''tiger'' when she feels angry like she wants to lash out. Granny, of course, sees all of these feelings at war inside Rosie as they make pasta together with Bailey.
Just as she did while they made soup, Granny tells Rosie and Bailey a story about herself that manages somehow to teach Rosie and Bailey exactly what they need to learn. When Granny and Pardo were young in Italy, a new girl moved onto their street. Her name was Violetta. She fawns all over Pardo just as Janine is fawning over Bailey. Granny felt anger and jealousy just as Rosie is feeling now. This story helps Bailey to understand Rosie's point of view, and it helps Rosie to feel understood in her tangle of feelings.
In the midst of talking about Pardo and Violetta, she suddenly starts talking about the Gattozzi Baby. This baby also lived on the street where Granny and Pardo lived, and she became very ill. Everyone in the neighborhood was worried and said prayers for the baby. Granny brought over food for the family and she would sit with the baby and sing to her as she burned with fever. This all happened smack in the middle of the Pardo/Violetta drama, but as Granny sat with that sick baby, suddenly Violetta didn't seem like quite such a big problem in her life. The baby finally did recover, but Granny was forever changed by the experience: ''I felt as if I was ten years older,'' she tells Rosie and Bailey, ''I felt as if my life was a little bigger.''
As they make soup and pasta, Granny Torrelli teaches Rosie about more than cooking. She helps her granddaughter understand the importance of friendship. She helps her see how to apologize, how to forgive, and how to see things in their proper perspective. When Rosie and Bailey have a fight after Rosie learns to read Braille, Granny tells a story of her old friend Pardo, which helps Rosie see the value of friendship. When Rosie feels Jealous of the new girl, Janine, Granny tells a story of Violetta and the Gattozzi baby which helps Rosie to see life from a better perspective. While their hands are busy in the kitchen, Rosie and Bailey's hearts and minds are open to the kind wisdom of Granny Torrelli, and the lessons she teaches are as good as the food she makes.
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The theme of Granny Torrelli Makes Soup is the importance of friendship in our lives. The story teaches the reader that the power of true friendship can overcome whatever obstacles a person may face in life.
Granny Torrelli Makes Soup was inspired by Sharon Creech's childhood memories of her grandmother. They spent a great deal of time together, having long talks while cooking Italian meals, just like Rosie and her grandmother.
The setting of Granny Torrelli Makes Soup alternates from the present day in Rosie's home and neighborhood on Pickburr Street to the past in Granny Torrelli's Italian childhood village. While making soup and pasta together, Granny Torrelli tells Rosie and Bailey stories that happened in her village.
