Customer Reviews

For the Love of Venice

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book opens your esyes to the beautiful city of Venice, the characters are very original, as well as the story. The setting captures you in a way which makes you feel atached to it. A story for all ages. Don't miss out on this incredible book.

Seventeen year old Percy was looking forward to a summer full of sailing and preparing for the big race at the end of the summer. Now he is on his way to Venice, Italy with his family for the summer. His father is part of the engineering team that is designing the floodgates the will protect Venice from floods.

His family settles in immediately. His father is busy with the floodgate, his mom is doing her artist thing, even his little brother, who is enrolled at a day camp for young children, is picking up Italian at an astonishing rate. Percy is a at loose ends until he meets the mysterious Graziella who works in the nearby ice cream shop. Discovering that she also works as an animatori or counselor at his brother's day camp, he signs on as an animatori too.

His friendship with Graziella connects him with other teens in the city. He discovers they care deeply about the quality of life in Venice and are fearful of the effects the Expo world's fair will have on life there. The focus on tourism in Venice is at odds with daily life there for ordinary citizens.

When a huge storm threatens the city with flooding, Percy realizes the group will stop at nothing to keep the Expo out of Venice and his father's project is at risk.

Napoli captures the beauty and special light of Venice. The book is a virtual vacation and a entertaining read.

Seventeen-year-old Percy is somewhat unexcited when his parents inform him that the family will be spending the summer in the jewel of Italy, also known as Venice. Having just graduated high school, Percy would much rather hang out with his friends, go sailing, and kick back. However, his outlook on the summer trip changes when he arrives in Venice, and realizes that he may just be bold enough to have a romantic adventure there. Soon he meets a mysterious, beautiful girl named Graziella, who works in the ice cream shop. Graziella brings Percy into parts of Venice that foreigners never get to see, and explains about the turmoil that Venetians are experiencing at the moment. Percy is shown how young Venetians make desperate plans to save their city from danger, and waves of tourists. He also finds how much Venetians hate outsiders, like himself. However, while Graziella and Percy can't change how each of their cultures looks upon the other, they can try to find a common ground for their two worlds to meet upon, during this summer in Venice.

I read Donna Jo Napoli's DAUGHTER OF VENICE a few months ago, and was so mesmerized by the story, that I just knew that I had to have FOR THE LOVE OF VENICE. I was not disappointed at all. Percy was a kind character, who was sympathetic, friendly, and helpful. He definitely bears a resemblance to the prince that every girl wishes that she will someday have the chance to meet. Graziella, on the other hand, was hard-headed, and at times snippy, but that was simply her hard exterior. Inside she was warm, friendly, and kind. The two characters keep the book flowing well, and will draw in fans young and old, male or female, into the story. A must have book for anyone interested in Italian culture, or looking for a touching story of first love.

Erika Sorocco

Dear Looking For A Good Book To Read, You have found it. This wonderfully written book is a twist of: romance between an American tourist (Percy) and a politically radical Venetian girl (Graziella) & Venetian politics when a group of politically radical teens try to stop the government of Venice from having the Expo in their city. IF YOU BUY ONE BOOK IT SHOULD BE THIS ONE!!!

This book is something like I've never seen in books before. Of course I may have seen more, but it was a shock. I had just finished reading a hard-core fantasy, and I wanted to read it again, but I had to read this and it Literally woke me up! I enjoyed the book less because I was still in fantasy land, so this book was a splash of cold water on my face after a nice, warm, cozy sweet-dream nap. One tip. Don't read the fantasy first. Happy Reading!

Donna Jo Napoli is as enamored of Venice as I am. Her descriptions of the city are colorful and accurate. She has dug into the "backstory"--the real Venice the tourists don't know or care about. The characters feel real and their interactions make sense. It's not as moving a story as Stones in Water, but it's a good read.

A summer spent in Italy! To most people it would be a dream come true, but that is not the case when seventeen year old Percy learns his family will be spending the entire summer in Venice for a project his dad is working on. Percy feels alone in the beautiful city of Venice; his mother is always out trying to absorb the atmosphere of the city and capture it in her artwork, Percy's father is always burying himself in his blue prints of plans to create M.O.S.E., a floodgate for the Venice waterways, and Percy's six year old brother, Christopher is going to be starting a new camp at the Estate Ragazzi church. Frustrated by the loneliness and the difficult language barrier, Percy is left to wonder the great city by himself. That is when he meets Graziella, a beautiful and mysterious Italian girl who works in the gelateria or ice cream shop. They are instantly attracted to each other, although it may not seem that way. They start to see each other and Graziella shows Percy the beauty of the Venetian culture and tradition. Everything seems to be going great between the young couple, but then Percy finds out that Graziella is part of an underground extremist political group and that she stereotypes him as a gullible rich American. Percy in unable to understand the stereotype she has for him or why the political group is willing to take extreme measures such as hold ups, etc, to keep the world fair out of Venice. Percy helps Graziella see that not all Americans are rich tourists and together with a little help from Mother Nature, they stop the world fair expo from being held in Venice. Graziella and Percy's relationship becomes stronger and they both realize that they are in love with one another. For the Love of Venice, is a story of love and politics that is enjoyable for people of all ages and genders. The political side of the story deals with the city's history and tradition. The love story is one that may seem unbelievable, but is one that you will not forget.

I am a huge fan of Donna Jo Napoli's books. She's very talented and I love everyone of her young adult books-except this one.

Not to be rude, but it was boring. I was hardly interested in it, but I decided to give it a try. When there was only just 30 pages left, I gave up on it. I flipped through to see them talking about how they love eachother. It was very strange.

The story was boring and went on for too long on pretty much nothing. It just wasn't my thing. I just couldn't get into it. But perhaps you may like this book. It's your opinion.

I love Donna Jo Napoli, especially Sirena, Song of the Magdelan, Beast and The Magic Circle. She is a really good author.

This has to be my favourite young adult novel. Tangy, delicately constructed, with an adorably clueless hero and intriguing heroine. Venice is gorgeous detail and colours. You're missing something if you fail to buy this fabulous book.

This was a really great book. It was soo exciting and I couldn't put it down. I definately suggest that you read it because it was a totally cool story- it had a little romance, but it was realistic in most parts, and deals with issues that teens have.