Quote from The Inquisitor's Tale

The Inquisitor's Tale: Or, The Three Magical Children and their Holy Dog 

by Adam Gidwitz, illuminated by Hatem Aly

Dutton Children's Books, New York, New York,  2016     363 pages

Like the movie The Princess Bride which begins with the grandfather as storyteller to his grandson in bed with a cold, with The Inquisitor's Tale we are the listeners of an oral story. Like The Canterbury Tales, those who report the story's episodes shift from chapter to chapter until the whole story is collected by our original narrator.  Inspired by events in French history and legends from the Middle Ages, the island and monastery of Mont-Saint-Michel and the Bayeux Tapestry, Adam Gidwitz weaves an interesting and fun story for adults, young adults and teens.

Here is an excerpt:
"The King is ready for war. Louis of France is not yet thirty, and already he is the greatest king in Europe. He loves his subjects. He loves God. And his armies have never been defeated. This war though is different. He is not fighting another army. He is not fighting another king. He is fighting three children. And their dog.

A week ago, Louis hadn't heard of these three children. No one had. But now they are the most famous children in France. And the most wanted. How did this happen? That's what I'm wondering. It's why I'm at Holy Cross-Roads Inn, a days walk north of Paris. It's early March, in the year of our Lord 1242. Outside, the sky is dark and getting darker. The wind is throwing the branches of an oak against the walls of the inn. The shutters are closed tight, to keep the dark out. The perfect night for a story.

The inn is packed. Butchers and brewers, peasants and priests, knights and nobodies. Everyone's here to see the king march by. Who knows? Maybe we'll see the children, too. And that dog of theirs. I would really like to see that dog.

I'm sitting on a wobbly stool at a rough, wooden table. It's sticky with spilled ale. We're packed in, shoulder to shoulder.

'So!' I say, rubbing my hands together. 'Does anyone know anything about these kids? The wanted ones? With the dog?'

The table practically erupts. They're all trying to tell me at once . . . "  (front intro)

-- submitted by Jennifer Knight

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