The Apprentice

By: Pilar Molina Llorente

Genre: Historical Fiction. Set during the time of the Renaissance in Florence, Italy. This story offers a glimpse of how people lived and worked in that time.

Age Range: 4th-6th. While giving a peek into what life was like back then, this books has moral dilemmas, conflicts with peers, parents, adults, and internal conflicts that the young main character must go through in order to achieve his dream of becoming a painter.

Plot: Arduino does not want to become a tailor like his father, brothers, or his other ancestors. He wishes to painter. His father isn't happy about it but allows him to have an apprenticeship with a master painter, Cosimo di Forli. After one day of being there, Arduino is treated like garbage. After a few weeks, he is still only cleaning and fears he may never learn anything. One night ventures to the attic where the housemaid has been making recent trips. He finds a young boy named Donato, a former apprentice of the master chained like an animal. After the master had fallen ill, Donato was set free in order to finish the master's commission and continure painting with Arduino at his side.

Characters: Arduino, Father, Maestro Cosimo di Forli, Melania, Donato, Duke of Algora, Marco, Piero, Baldo.

Setting: The Renaissance in Florence, Italy.

Theme:

Equity: Stereotypes are avoided and the culture is accurately and appropriately represesnted.

Illustrations: By Juan Ramon Alonso. Sketches helping depict various characters.