The most enduring work by the Renaissance humanist Giovanni Boccaccio, The Decameron is a collection of one hundred stories about ten young noblemen and noblewomen who escape the plague by moving to a country villa outside the Italian city of Florence. Highly influential, numerous writers have borrowed from Boccaccio's tales, including Edgar Allen Poe, John Keats, and George Eliot. In "The Stone of Invisibility," the nobleman Calandrino, as well as his friends Bruno and Buffalmacco, visit the coast in search of the magical bloodstone. Calandrino's wife, however, spoils the fun ... Proceeds from sale of this title go to Reach Out and Read, an innovative literacy advocacy organization.