Daughter of Venice (Mass Market Paperback)

by Donna Jo Napoli (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Award-winning author Donna Jo Napoli whisks young readers away to glittering Renaissance Venice in this first-rate historical novel about a young woman who longs to experience the wide world beyond her cloistered window. The year is 1592, and 14-year-old Donata is a pampered member of the noble Mocenigo family. But Donata is restless. Always confined to the palazzo, she is tired of learning everything second-hand from her brothers. And she is angered by the Venetian law that states only her older sister may marry. Donata knows that the only destiny that awaits her is the convent or maiden aunt-hood, neither of which are very appealing. "The mysteries of Venice are like a rainbow--and I am soon to be shut away from them." But as part of an elaborate scheme to outwit her parents, Donata decides to disguise herself as a beggar boy. Finally, she sees the real Venice, and it is both as beautiful as she had believed and more horribly raw than she could have ever imagined. Now she has no idea how she can ever reconcile what she has learned with the life she is expected to lead.

Based on one of the first acknowledged female Venetian scholars, Daughter of Venice is so rich with historical detail and intrigue that readers will quickly feel the desperation and exhilaration of Donata's daring deception. Napoli provides an authentic taste of this complex society on the brink of change and the ancient rules that still bound its women both physically and mentally. A gorgeous, bountiful book. (Ages 10 to 15) --Jennifer Hubert --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly
Napoli returns to the locale of Stones in Water and For the Love of Venice, this time for a costume drama set in the late 16th century. At 14, Donata Mocenigo and her twin sister watch carefully as their noble parents set about finding a husband for their older sister. Venetian economics dictate that one daughter of a noble family will surely wed, but only with luck will a second daughter be married the remaining daughters either enter convents or care for a married brother's children. Eschewing a traditional romance, Napoli forges a plot with contemporary elements. Donata wants to see Venice and receive the same education as her brothers; she studies the family business and embraces what facts she can uncover about Venetian history and politics. Obtaining a working-class boy's clothes, she disguises herself and sets out on furtive daytime explorations of her beloved city. Soon she is befriended by an attractive young Jewish boy, who helps her find a morning job as a copyist (even though she can't read or write); with help from her sisters, her escapades go unnoticed by her parents. Enjoying the tour of historical Venice and the taste of its complex society and government, readers may not mind Donata's seeming immunity to the mores and prejudices of her day not even when, to avoid an arranged marriage, she anonymously and falsely denounces herself as a convert to Judaism and still earns herself a happy ending. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Laurel Leaf (December 9, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440229286
• ISBN-13: 978-0440229285
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 3.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #182,830 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The story of a remarkable girl with big dreams, June 9, 2002

By	hiphopgirl_1000 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Daughter of Venice (Hardcover)

Fourteen-year-old Donata is fortunate to be the daughter of a noble family. However being the daughter of a respective family has its problems for headstrong Donata. She is protected from the outside world and all noble's daughter will not get an education. Being not the oldest daughter, Donata will not marry either, her destiny is to confined in a covent for the rest of her life. But because she has a twin sister Laura, Donata clings onto the hope that her father might find a husband for both of them. When her hopes are dashed, Donata comes up with the plan to see Venice, the Venice outside of her palazzo, before she is shut away forever. Her choice will bring many changes to her family and will alter many people's lives, including her own.

This was a wonderful historical fiction book by Donna Jo Napoli seen through the eyes of a remarkable girl with big dreams of the future. I read this book in one sitting and it was way better than I ever dreamed it would be. It illustrates perfectly the hopes and aspirations of a girl who wants to see the outside world---a world she has never known.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A noble girl, out to see the the world before it is too late, April 3, 2002

By	Ignatiusia Maelana Perculiz "Iggy" (Seattle, WA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Daughter of Venice (Hardcover)

Donata is a young noble girl who lives in Venice during the late 1500s. She is fortunate to be rich, but she is locked away from the world outside her palazzo and is not educated. After finding out that she will not marry and will instead be sent to a convent, she comes up with a plan to escape and see the world outside her palazzo, before she is locked away forever.

I recommend this book to girls ages 10 and up. Boys may read it too, but they might not enjoy it as much since some seens describe how a girl is feeling as she talks to the man she secrely has a crush on. So if you are looking for a book that is realistic fiction, you will absolutly enjoy, and will educate you on Venice in the 1500s, then this book is for you.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars GREAT BOOK, November 12, 2004

A Kid's Review

this is a great book! the beginning is a little boring. the book also has very BIG words that you would have to look up. it is very interesting and it tells about how life was back then. if you like historical fiction then you'll love this book.