A Newbery Honor Book
Winner of the Sydney Taylor Book Award
An exciting and hilarious medieval adventure from the bestselling
author of A Tale Dark and Grimm. **Beautifully illustrated
throughout by Hatem Aly!
**
★ A New York Times Bestseller ★ A New York Times Editor's Choice ★ A
New York Times Notable Children's Book ★ A People Magazine Kid Pick
★ A Washington Post Best Children's Book ★ A Wall Street Journal
Best Children's Book ★ An Entertainment Weekly Best Middle Grade Book
★ A Booklist Best Book ★ A Horn Book Fanfare Best Book ★ A Kirkus
Reviews Best Book ★ A Publishers Weekly Best Book ★ A School Library
Journal Best Book ★ An ALA Notable Children's Book
"A profound and ambitious tour de force. Gidwitz is a masterful
storyteller." --Matt de la Peña, Newbery Medalist and New York Times
bestselling author
"What Gidwitz accomplishes here is staggering. --New York Times Book
Review
*Includes a detailed historical note and bibliography
*
1242. On a dark night, travelers from across France cross paths at an
inn and begin to tell stories of three children. Their adventures take
them on a chase through France: they are taken captive by knights, sit
alongside a king, and save the land from a farting dragon. On the run to
escape prejudice and persecution and save precious and holy texts from
being burned, their quest drives them forward to a final showdown at
Mont Saint-Michel, where all will come to question if these children can
perform the miracles of saints.
Join William, an oblate on a mission from his monastery; Jacob, a Jewish
boy who has fled his burning village; and Jeanne, a peasant girl who
hides her prophetic visions. They are accompanied by Jeanne's loyal
greyhound, Gwenforte . . . recently brought back from the dead. Told in
multiple voices, in a style reminiscent of The Canterbury Tales, our
narrator collects their stories and the saga of these three unlikely
allies begins to come together.
Beloved bestselling author Adam Gidwitz makes his long awaited return
with his first new world since his hilarious and critically acclaimed
Grimm series. Featuring manuscript illuminations throughout by
illustrator Hatem Aly and filled with Adam's trademark style and humor,
The Inquisitor's Tale is bold storytelling that's richly researched
and adventure-packed.
"It's no surprise that Gidwitz's latest book has been likened to The
Canterbury Tales, considering its central story is told by multiple
storytellers. As each narrator fills in what happens next in the story
of the three children and their potentially holy dog, their tales get
not only more fantastical but also more puzzling and addictive.
However, the gradual intricacy of the story that is not Gidwitz's
big accomplishment. Rather it is the complex themes (xenophobia,
zealotry, censorship etc.) he is able to bring up while still
maintaining a light tone, thus giving readers a chance to come to
conclusions themselves. (Also, there is a farting
dragon.)"--Entertainment Weekly, "Best MG Books of 2016
Puckish, learned, serendipitous . . . Sparkling medieval adventure.
--*Wall Street Journal
*
★ Gidwitz strikes literary gold with this mirthful and compulsively
readable adventure story. . . . A masterpiece of storytelling that is
addictive and engrossing. --Kirkus, starred review
★ A well-researched and rambunctiously entertaining story that has
as much to say about the present as it does the past. --Publishers
Weekly, starred review
★ Gidwitz proves himself a nimble storyteller as he weaves history,
excitement, and multiple narrative threads into a taut, inspired
adventure. --Booklist, starred review
★ Scatological humor, serious matter, colloquial present-day language,
the ideal of diversity and mutual understanding--this has it all.
--The Horn Book, starred review
★ I have never read a book like this. It's weird, and unfamiliar, and
religious, and irreligious, and more fun than it has any right to be.
. . . Gidwitz is on fire here, making medieval history feel fresh and
current. --School Library Journal, starred review
