What an awesome book!

Wow! This is going to go down as being one of my favorite books of all time. It is more than deserving of the Newberry Honor. Not only was the subject matter well researched, the message of tolerance, friendship, and the love of learning is such a timely topic. In an era when religious persecution still exists, when groups of people are still being targeted for their faith or color of their skin, when the U.S. government seeks to eradicate the humanities and the arts, this book helps to answer the hard questions of injustice within our world. In short: The medieval times were quite like ours. Did I mention this book is somewhat based on The Canterbury Tales? I also appreciate how Gidwitz is able to slyly incorporate fantasy elements within a narrative that is loosely historical. He does so with great ease. He never talks down to his audience but assumes his audience can handle heavy topics. This book simply put is literary gold. It is engrossing and a heartfelt adventure tale (that is often quite humorous). Loosely based on historical subjects, I wouldn't be surprised if you found yourself reading up on the medieval ages after reading this wonderful book.

Yes, it's a children's book. Yes, I know you found it in the children's section. Yes, that's really the book I want. Although, if you read it, you would realize how beautiful this book truly is. Taking place in Medieval France, in a time where many groups of people were being discriminated against and horrible crimes were being committed across Europe, Gidwitz manages to deliver a stunning masterpiece of literature in which so many lessons can be learned. I will never be tired of rereading this gorgeously-written book, and I will always feel what the characters suffer throughout their journey. Quite honestly, my favorite part of this book is the way in which it is written. Delivered to the reader in a series of short tales from a variety of narrators as the Inquisitor tracks the children's journey from the very beginning, the story becomes much more real, and we as readers are treated to the point of views of so many more characters who are all as beautiful as the three children whom France has become so obsessed with. I definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for a thought-provoking children's book to get them to think, despite its intended audience ;)

I loved this book - it was funny and sad at the same time, while it also had a lot of sweet moments. It also felt accurate for the time period that it was set in, despite being a fantasy novel. You are like pomegranates split open. Even the emptiest among you is as full of good as a pomegranate is full of seed.

This book was perfectly lovely. I absolutely enjoyed it from beginning to end, including the wonderful, whimsical illuminations the decorated almost every page. Gidwitz captures the genre well and modernizes it while still keeping true to the original genre, like a modern day "Canterbury Tales" for middle school kids, and adults apparently. Even without telling the story from the perspective of any one of the children, Gidwitz fully develops their characters and all the supporting characters. I especially loved reading his author's note at the end where he describes the real events or myths that he based the events of the book upon. I highly recommend this book!