Crispin: The Cross of Lead
England in the year 1377. Thirteen-Year-old Crispin, has no parents, no home, no name. Yet he is being pursued, and his life is threatened. As he seeks to find out why, he must first learn who and what he is.
We tend to think of medieval times in terms of castles, knights, kings and queens. And surely, they were there. But that's not the way most people lived. What you'll find here is an accurate depiction of those times from the point of view of an ordinary person. There is much that is strange-how do you live without clocks, or books, English or freedom? For 1377 is a time in which much than is modern is just beginning to come alive. Perhaps the most interesting thing is the emergence of the individual, a sense that each person is unique. We haven't always believed that way. In short, this a story about a young adult at a time when our culture was also young. That it's exciting, and sometimes rough, is simply the way it was.
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Awards:
2003 Newbery Award
Reviews:
From Publishers Weekly
Set in 14th-century England, Avi's (The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle) 50th book begins with a funeral, that of a village outcast whose past is shrouded in mystery and whose adolescent son is known only as "Asta's son." Mired in grief for his mother, the boy learns his given name, Crispin, from the village priest, although his presumably dead father's identity remains obscure. The words etched on his mother's treasured lead cross may provide some clue, but the priest is murdered before he can tell the illiterate lad what they say. Worse, Crispin is fingered for the murder by the manor steward, who declares him a "wolf's head" wanted dead or alive, preferably dead. Crispin flees, and falls in with a traveling juggler. "I have no name," Crispin tells Bear, whose rough manners and appearance mask a tender heart. "No home, no kin, no place in this world." How the boy learns his true identity (he's the bastard son of the lord of the manor) and finds his place in the world makes for a rattling fine yarn. Avi's plot is engineered for maximum thrills, with twists, turns and treachery aplenty, but it's the compellingly drawn relationship between Crispin and Bear that provides the heart of this story. A page turner to delight Avi's fans, it will leave readers hoping for a sequel. Ages 8-12.
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