New Books for Missouri Students

2004

CCBC Choices

2004

Books for the Teen Age —New York Public Library

2004

New Books for Missouri Students

2004

CCBC Choices

2004

Books for the Teen Age —New York Public Library

2004

Children's Book Award Notable —IRA

2004

PSLA (Pennsylvania School Librarians Association) —Young Adult Top Forty

2003

Association of Mormon Letter's YA Book Award

2003

Horn Book Guide

"Set in fourteenth-century Italy and based on known facts, this fictional account of the life of the daughter of Dante Alighieri is complex and demanding, not shying from the realities of civil war or the sophistication of the ideas that led to Dante's Divine Comedy. The setting is evoked with meticulous detail, and the character of Antonia "Bice" Alighieri is entirely believable."

Kirkus Reviews

"[E]ngrossing. … A vivid embroidery."

Booklist

"Heuston has clearly done her research. … What will hold readers is the honest family picture; the gifted father's dedication to his work and himself truly hurts his wife and daughter. A fascinating glimpse of early feminism."

Horn Book Guide

"Set in fourteenth-century Italy and based on known facts, this fictional account of the life of the daughter of Dante Alighieri is complex and demanding, not shying from the realities of civil war or the sophistication of the ideas that led to Dante's Divine Comedy. The setting is evoked with meticulous detail, and the character of Antonia "Bice" Alighieri is entirely believable."

Kirkus Reviews

"[E]ngrossing. … A vivid embroidery."

Booklist

"Heuston has clearly done her research. … What will hold readers is the honest family picture; the gifted father's dedication to his work and himself truly hurts his wife and daughter. A fascinating glimpse of early feminism."

School Library Journal

"Through the fictional memoir of Antonia Alighieri, the only daughter of the great Italian poet, the politics, hardships, and aspiration that shaped her life, her father, and her medieval world are recounted. … The illumination of a great mind through the eyes and voice of a daughter will appeal to teens, who will discover an appealing heroine, a wealth of historical information, and a deeper understanding of the Divine Comedy."

Publishers Weekly

"A lovingly detailed historical novel, rich in its setting and ambitious in its scope … Heuston offers solid entertainment."

Library Media Connection

"This is a thoroughly satisfying story set in early 14th century Italy and France. It is a human story reflecting the political and work-a-day world of its time that yet allows readers to see young people with the same problems they face today: separation, war, striving to find love, supporting a family, and dealing with death."

CCBC Choices (University of Wisconsin)

"Heuston's intricately detailed and fascinating story has intriguing and well-developed characters, an incredible sense of time and place, and a hero who's ultimate coming of age is a triumph for self-determination."

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"The music of the prose and the range and complexity of the relationships combine to make a compelling reading experience."

Christian Library Journal

"Dante's Daughter is a well-written, fast-moving book that will appeal to teens interested in the middle ages. Heuston portrays Christianity positively, and the medieval Catholic worldview informs nearly every thought and action in thenovel. Antonia, Dante, and Gemma are all well-developed, sympathetic characters who reflect the virtues and flaws of the times in which they live. ... Mature readers will find a story that explores painful questions of faith and forgiveness, and ultimately answers them with trust in the providence and goodness of God."—