Primavera Paperback – March 1, 2009

this book was different from the history books i normaly read but i liked it oh, and the most important and bestest<<<(i know that not a real word)part about the whole book is that ive been studing italian and it has italian words in it and i understood the italian words even though the english meaning is next to it i didnt need it that made me feel really good because now i feel like im really learning italian, im so happy now!

My daughter just finished this book and told me he was great. I thought I'd take a look to see what her definition of great was and I have to tell you I couldn't put this book down. I found it very exciting and fast moving and I had to know what was going to happen next. This book does not disappoint. I have to tell you I'm now going to ready Mary Jane's other book even though, not being a teen, I'm not the audience it is intended for.

Fantastic story! The characters are so real, you fall into their lives and are sad when you turn the last page.

Anyone who has ever felt left out or unliked will relate to the story of Flora Pazzi, the youngest daughter of the powerful, noble family of the Italian Renaissance. This historical novel is well-researched and inspired by actual events. Details of the time period are clear and compelling. This book should be on every middle school and high school required reading list.

Wonderful book.

This is a lovely book about the various aspects of life in Renaissance Florence. The relative positions and problems of rich and not-so-rich are clear. The girl Flora is a sheltered from being totally focused on position by a grandmother who has had wealth and power and traded it for the work of the kitchen and the love of her granddaughter.As a former seventh grade teacher and school librarian, I would say that seventh grade and up is ideal for this book. Although scenes depict violence, they do so with distance rather than detail. And it is true to the times--the author hasn't just thrown violence in for its own sake.Yes, this book is aimed at girls. I would call it a coming-of-age novel rather than a romance though it is the romance that gives it warm ending. If we only knew the fate of Flora's brother?I was disappointed to find that Beaufrand has not yet published anything similar. I hope we will see more from her in the future.

This book really wavers between 3.5 and 4 stars. Although the historical background is well-researched and presented, the writing is not 5 star. The plot seems rather contrived and the verbage reflects many of today's social mores. It cannot go down in the annals of classic children's fiction due to these limitations. There are passages that are inappropriate for younger children, so as a previous reviewer said, it should be recommended for readers of 8th or 9th grade and up.I obtained this book from the library in a search for good children's Renaissance fiction, preferably based in Florence. So far, I have found only The Apprentice by Pilar Llorente, which is for a younger age group. I have rejected a few already and now add this one to that list. It is a shame that so many of them are really romance novels, which will hardly illuminate the time period for young male readers. This one is a mild romance novel. Romance is definitely a part of the story, but not the only thing that carries it forward.

The Italian Renaissance brings to mind beautiful images, paintings and sculptures, glorious and expensive brocades, string quartets in the garden; a rich texture of life indeed. But it was also a time of great strife and cruelty the likes of which we could never imagine in this day and age. Sprinkled throughout with Italian words and phrases, PRIMAVERA dips the reader into the Renaissance period.Flora, the youngest daughter of the Pazzi, strives to find beauty and normalcy in a life that is anything but. Scorned by her own mother, she lives as little more than a servant while her older sister, Domenicia, is primped, plucked, painted by the famed Botticelli, and otherwise prepared for the wedding that will join the Pazzi to the Medici.As Flora contemplates her mother's plan for her future, life in a convent, a member of her father's guard arrives with a missive from the Pope himself. The guard, Emilio, hangs around and becomes the friend and companion that Flora has never had. When Emilio and Nonna, the grandmother who's raised and protected her, convince her to train with the guard, Flora finds strength that carries her through the difficult months to come.PRIMAVERA is a captivating read. I found myself rooting for Flora and Emilio. Ms. Beaufrand painted her characters so realistically that I felt their pain, their fear, their guilt, and yes, even their joy. True to great historical fiction, the author did not flinch when she described some of the tragedies that befell her characters. Be warned that some of the scenes are quite graphic and not for the faint of heart. Yet I hesitate to limit this book to those only in 9th-grade and up.If you know nothing about this time period, yet enjoy historical fiction, you will love this well-written novel. If you are a fan of the Renaissance you will revel in all of the historical details Ms. Beaufrand has so expertly shown.Reviewed by: Cana Rensberger