Whitebread Nicholas has to spend a couple of weeks with his grandma in Brooklyn, and gets to know his Uncle Frankie, whose existence was a deep dark family secret. In the process he learns to be a "goomba" and learns to cook alongside his grandma (great incentive for boys to try the recipes for various traditional dishes), how to NOT make friends, and how to get in serious trouble with the law AND the mob. One of the good things is Nicky learn to make chicken with too much oregano and it's a hit. See recipe on www.cookingupreading.com for details.