Crispin: The Cross of Lead
By Avi
This book won the Newbery Award.
This book is a mystery thriller about the Middle Ages in a fictional place in England. The main character, Crispin, starts out being thrown out of his home town at the death of his mother. He has no idea why he has been treated as an outcast all of his life, nor why he doesn’t even have a real name. But when his mother dies, he begins to try to unravel the mystery of his life and his background.
I liked the way this story kept the reader guessing about each little bit of the mystery of Crispin’s past and possible future as events unfolded. The Middle Ages were difficult for everyone, it seems, but far more so for the disenfranchised and the poor. Crispin was both. But his chances of survival and future success were increased greatly when he met up with a spy for a group who were trying to free England from the tyranny of the lords. They wanted freedom and equal representation rather than divine rights of kings. Oliver Cromwell must have followed soon after this story.
Avi. (2002). Crispin: The Cross of Lead. New York: Hyperion Books for Children.
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