I’ve been eyeing this book since it came out when I was probably 12 years old but it had never really clicked for me although I have enjoyed all the Avi I’ve read. The time somehow was right this month and I churned through this in short order. I think it was partially because all I was able to read for about two and a half months was reading for grad school and my brain was desperate for something adventurous and straight forward. Crispin: The Cross of Lead is a medieval action adventure set in England in the wake of the Black Death (1377). Crispin, who doesn’t even know his own name at first since he’s spent his whole life being called “Asta’s son,” is a peasant in a small village. As the novel opens, his mother has just died and he quickly gets caught up in a fast-paced adventure to figure out his own history and the society he lives in.
I enjoyed this, as Avi is a good writer and really captured the historical nuances of the time period. I appreciated the “Historical Afterward” and the interview with him in the back of the book, as I am always a big fan of additional material and it was helpful to see where his inspiration came from. As a history buff, this felt as accurate and careful as it could have been. The story itself is fun and never slows down, so there’s nowhere to get bored in it. While it deals with serious subjects (death of a parent, murder, freedom vs slavery, violence), it never felt too scary or too grim. The found family arc was especially nice. I’m glad I finally took the leap and read this!
