The Medici Seal is a young adult

Young adult literature

Young-adult fiction or young adult literature , also juvenile fiction, is fiction written for, published for, or marketed to adolescents and young adults, roughly ages 14 to 21. The Young Adult Library Services of the American Library Association defines a young adult as "someone between the...

 novel

Novel

A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

 written by Theresa Breslin

Theresa Breslin

Theresa Breslin is a Scottish author, primarily of young adult fiction. She began writing when working as a librarian, and has published 29 books, five of which have also been sold as audiobooks....

, published in 2006. Set among the cultural life and political intrigues of Renaissance Italy, it is the story of a boy who initially calls himself Matteo and his master Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...

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It was shortlisted for the 2007 Booktrust Teenage Prize

Booktrust Teenage Prize

The Booktrust Teenage Prize is an annual award given to young adult literature published in the UK. The prize is administered by Booktrust, an independent charity which promotes books and reading.-List of Prize Winners:...

 and longlisted for the 2007 Carnegie Medal

Carnegie Medal

The Carnegie Medal is a literary award established in 1936 in honour of Scottish philanthropist Andrew Carnegie and given annually to an outstanding book for children and young adults. It is awarded by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals...

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Plot introduction

Italy, 1502. Matteo is saved from drowning by friends of Leonardo da Vinci. The artist and scholar takes the boy under his wing. Matteo accompanies him both as he pursues knowledge and paints magnificent pictures and as he travels across Italy on the secret business of the ruthless Cesare Borgia

Cesare Borgia

Cesare Borgia , Duke of Valentinois, was an Italian condottiero, nobleman, politician, and cardinal. He was the son of Pope Alexander VI and his long-term mistress Vannozza dei Cattanei. He was the brother of Lucrezia Borgia; Giovanni Borgia , Duke of Gandia; and Gioffre Borgia , Prince of Squillace...

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