1970) and M.A./Ph.D. (Romance Languages, 1973). A postdoctoral fellowship in linguistics at M.I.T. in 1974 led to her resulting career in the field. She is married and has five children. Napoli has dual citizenship in the U.S. and Italy. Early linguistics career Napoli began her linguistics career in generative syntax, with a focus on Italian and other Romance languages. Her dissertation in 1973 was titled The Two Si's of Italian: An Analysis of Reflexive, Inchoative, and Indefinite Subject Sentences in Modern Standard Italian. Her subsequent work spanned many topics within generatic syntax on Romance languages and English, including its interfaces with intonation, morphology, and other areas. Early writing career Although Napoli always had a love of writing, she decided not to pursue it as a career in early life. Her professional writing career began with the publication of her first book, The Hero of Barletta, in 1988. Napoli's novels tackle real-world problems children of any age may face, including family hardships, anxiety, phobias, and illness. As explained in a 2012 TED Talk, Napoli finds it important that children read stories about real-life problems they may face, to help comfort those who are experiencing similar difficulties. Work with Deaf communities In the earlys 2000s, Donna Jo Napoli began a program of research on sign languages and developed connections within the Deaf community. Napoli has contributed to linguistic research on sign languages, including the publication of the book Primary movement in sign languages in 2011. Combining her interest in language and literature, Napoli has collaborated with others to create bimodal bilingual ebooks for hearing parents to read to their deaf children. These are ebooks and videos that are both conveyed in oral language, and conveyed in sign language in a video. Languages represented in this project include American Sign Language, Brazilian Sign Language, Fijian Sign Language, Korean Sign Language, Irish Sign Language, Nepali Sign Language, Swedish Sign Language, and others. The books are translated into the oral language relevant for each signed language. Fiction books Young Adult novels The Magic Circle, 1993 Dutton Penguin, 1995 Puffin Books (Paperback) Zel, 1996 Dutton Penguin, 1998 Puffin Books (Paperback) Song of the Magdalene, 1996 Scholastic, 1998 (Paperback), 2004 Simon & Schuster (Paperback) Stones in Water, 1997, 1999 (Paperback) Dutton Penguin For the Love of Venice, 1998, 2000 (Paperback) Delacorte Press Sirena, 1998, 2000 (Paperback) Scholastic Spinners, 1999, 2001 (Paperback) Dutton Penguin Crazy Jack, 1999, 2001