The Laundress Catches Her Breath was a Tillie Olsen Award for Creative Writing from the Working Class Studies Association, Fore Word Magazine's Poetry Book of the Year finalist, and Binghamton University Milton Kessler Book Award finalist. Catina's Haircut: A Novel in Stories was on the Library Journals "First Novels: Fall Firsts" Notable List, A Sons of Italy National Book Club Selection, Family Tree Magazine's Recommended Genealogy Reading List, and 2012 Best Books for General Audiences selection by the Public Library Association. Giovanna's 86 Circles and Other Stories was a John Gardner Fiction Book Award Finalist, Young Adult Top 40 Fiction Titles of the Pennsylvania School Librarian Association, and Montserrat Reviews Best Short Stories of 2005.