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

There are books and then there are BOOKS. I got my 12 y.o. The Inquisitors Tale: The Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog and he consumed it in a day. But yesterday, he started reading it to me from the beginning when I was cleaning the kitchen. I stopped in my tracks multiple times to listen, and now we're finishing it up and I cannot say enough about this book. We read together a lot but only The Jungle Book meant this much to both of us. GET THIS BOOK. If you don't have kids, or your kids are too young, or too old, doesn't matter. Get it for yourself and read it anyway. Buy it for your college student or high schooler, It's a book that will leave you thinking, move you to tears, and make you laugh out loud A LOT. I don't even know what to say this book is about, but it covers a realistic medieval France, religion, politics, holy greyhounds, being different, class dynamics then and sadly, still eerily relevant now, and pretty much everything in between that matters. Oh! And the illustrations are fantastic!AAAAAMMMMMMMAAAAZINGGGGG!

Every once in a while I slip from literature meant for adults to the world of works intended for young adults. My 77 year old self discovered Adam Gidwitz's well-researched historically-based adventure, set in the 13th century France and was hooked. The adventures of three remarkable children, each endowed with an unusual fantastical gift...foresight, strength, or healing are accompanied by a very magical dog are at the heart of a quest ... all told In a kinda-rewoven Chaucerian literary style. First-person tales depicting the progress of the children's adventure as depicted in a little French village inn, we come to discover an unusual quest, "real" historical characters (you can look them up), mythical tales (you can authentic them as well), and intertwined with enriching Talmudic lessons all along the way.

I've done grad-level Medieval Lit studies, and this book nails the feeling of that period. I read this aloud to my 5th graders (readers at that level would struggle a bit with some of the words, but it's do-able for an advanced middle-schooler). We all loved the situations and conundrums, the questions that were raised -- terrific discussion material (particularly since I teach in an Islamic school in the U.S., so issues of what it's like to be a religious minority come up all the time in my students' lives). The tale is sophisticated and interesting enough that I have also recommended it to my literate friends, so have given it rave reviews, too. This is an amazing work.

The Inquisitor's Tale is based on something that really did happen in France. The inquisitor is a mysterious traveler in the year 1242 who arrives at a crowded inn near Paris, looking for three children wanted by the king. Who are these children? Why would the king of France send his army after them? The inquisitor craves answers, and townspeople take turns telling the story – each tale moving the plot forward. I’m not giving anything away when I share that there are three children: Jeanne, a peasant girl ‘cursed’ with visions of the future; William, a biracial young monk with superhuman strength; and Jacob, a Jewish boy who can heal the wounded and sick. (Accompanying them is a holy dog named Gwenforte, who has apparently returned from the dead.) The inquisitor listens to each tale to figure out whether these children are saints who can perform miracles, or heretics rightly hunted by the king on behalf of the Catholic Church. The stories describe hilarious and outrageous adventures which include dead dogs, people burned alive, tons of blood, guts, and vomit, demon forests, a farting dragon, double-crossing knights, horse-devouring quicksand and a wicked queen mother. One moment William, a devout Christian, is arguing with Jacob over whether a Jewish writer is a pawn of the Devil; the next, Jeanne and Jacob are trying to survive a bout with smelly cheese. In both cases, the children grow beyond their initial judgments and prejudices because they’re willing to listen to a friend. Most importantly, it is about three children divided by class, gender, race, and religion who find that in the search for the truth about God and the universe, perhaps friendship is the greatest marvel of all. And that in the middle of a story, we cannot see the bigger plan until we get to its very end.

What a fascinating book! I'm amazed that there aren't more reviews! An interesting insight into the middle ages, a gripping story and a downright funny tale - all rolled into one. Read it!

A Must

Bought this for my 9 year old. He loves anything to do with magic and fantasies. He cant put it down. So on that term this is a great book.I usually love to read my son's books too ( yes, even though I'm not 9 :) ) .... but in this instance even though the story line was good, the use of indirect speech in 80% of the book (I've finished halfway) makes it a bit of a boring read.

I was not familiar with the author and the description made it sound awesome, but it is not a children’s book. It is extremely violent and gory and just not appropriate for kids despite it looking like it would be. That being said, I really enjoyed reading it by myself.

This is an engaging adventure for children of about 9 to 12, and it would read well aloud. It has the flavour of medieval narrative, with a cast of interesting characters, of whom the three main characters and their dog emerge strongly and endearingly. It endorses the worth of peasants, women, Saracens, and angels, and inclusivity in general. I did not give it to my grandson as a gift because I didn't know how to explain the medieval notion of sin.