The Warhorse

"Your training in arms is to be used only for our work here in the armory; I will never allow you to go to war. Never!"

Lorenzo felt as if he had been kicked in the stomach.

Fifteen-year-old Lorenzo Arrighi, the son of the duke's master armorer, shows a great deal of talent for his father's craft, but he longs for adventure and the glory of battle. His father forbids him to go to war, but when Lorenzo learns of an attack planned against the duke, he and his beloved warhorse, Scoppio, are suddenly plunged into the midst of a fierce conflict between two rival cities. What Lorenzo experiences will forever change the way he feels about the world — and his place in it.

Don Bolognese's exciting text and detailed illustrations bring to life this grand adventure of a boy caught up in the romance of art and war in Renaissance Italy.

Publishers Weekly

Author and illustrator Bolognese's (Letters to Horseface) novel works on many different levels: rousing adventure story, morality fable, historical period piece and quietly dazzling love story. Fifteen-year-old Lorenzo Arrighi works as an apprentice armorer in Renaissance Italy. When mercenaries threaten his city, he is torn between devotion to his father, master armorer to the Duke, who does not want his son to join in the war effort, and his strong sense of duty. Chief among his loves is his cherished horse, Scoppio, the finest steed in the city. Bolognese composes a fugue of small interlocked stories, each of them centered around concepts of loyalty, devotion and sacrifice. Lorenzo, a brave and compelling hero, grows from a fearless boy to a man who understands that things are almost always more involved than they seem. The author tightly orchestrates the relationships in the story: Lorenzo deeply loves his father, but also his godfather Massimo, who is more objective and understands the call to duty, as well as the Duke, the noble leader of the city who becomes a second father to the boy. Bolognese further fleshes out the atmosphere with a generous number of sepia-toned drawings of period armor and weaponry, taken from Lorenzo's sketch book. A volume to savor and revisit, from the fast-paced opening to the moving epilogue. Ages 10-14. (June) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Don Bolognese was born in New York City to immigrant parents and grew up in an atmosphere of art and Italian culture. A graduate of the Cooper Union School of Art, he determined early on that he would be an illustrator, and after illustrating works by many other authors he decided to write his own books. Among them are several series combining art, history, and adventure, many of which were done in collaboration with his wife, Elaine Raphael, an author and artist.

Several years ago he teamed up with Ms. Raphael to design and illustrate Letters to Horseface, the story of Mozart's travels through Italy, by F. N. Monjo. Retracing the young composer's footsteps gave him a firsthand look at the birthplace of the Renaissance. That experience provided the inspiration for The Warhorse.

In his spare time Don Bolognese is an avid gardener and a cautious collector of wild mushrooms. Visit his Web site at www.thewarhorse.com.