David

Gr 8 Up—Though he is now an old man of 81, Gabriele clearly remembers four years of his life, when he joined his "brother" Michelangelo in the city of Florence. Though not related, Gabriele and Angelo had grown up as brothers in Gabriele's stone-cutting family, before Michelangelo left for school and eventually made his name as an artist and sculptor. When 18-year-old Gabriele travels to the big city, he finds life very different from the little town of his birth. Florence in the early 1500s is filled with both art and politics, and Hoffman spends equal time on both. Gabriele models for a painter and for Angelo, who has accepted a commission for a statue of David. The insider's view of the art world will be fascinating to many readers. The politics of the time were complicated, and some readers will lose the thread as they follow the many names and factions woven into the story, but the basic thrust will be clear to most, as will the fact that Gabriele is playing a dangerous game of pretending to be on one side while undertaking actions to help the other. The author doesn't skirt the issue of "lusts of the flesh," for Gabriele is extremely handsome and attracts attention from both ladies and men. Readers with an interest in Michelangelo, da Vinci, and art in general will particularly enjoy this well-written story.—Maggie Knapp, Trinity Valley School, Fort Worth, TX