Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi

2003 Newbery Winner
Finished 12-18-06

I remember when I first started working at my local library, one of the librarians, in an attempt to find out what I liked to read, asked me if I liked Avi. Avi, I thought. Who in the world is Avi? And why does he have such a weird name? The conversation slipped from my mind until I saw this book on the Newbery list and picked it up. Oh yeah, the guy with the weird name.

Crispin is a wolf’s head. Anyone can kill him without getting into trouble. How did this come about? Well, Crispin doesn’t really understand it himself. He was accused of a crime he didn’t commit, and forced to flee for his life. A man named John Aycliffe seems to be behind all this trouble. Crispin does his best to protect himself, but John Aycliffe is a powerful man. Will Crispin’s wits, and the help of his new friend Bear, be enough to keep him alive?

I was predisposed to like this book, because the cover flap promised adventure. Those types of Newbery books seem to be more of a rarity, and I usually enjoy the ones I come across. And sure enough, the book delivered what I was expecting. It wasn’t ever slow or boring.

The other thing that I really enjoyed about this book was the time period it was set in. It gives an interesting picture of the Medieval age—and not the glamorous one with knights and ladies either. It was quite realistic and kind of a revelation to me that things weren’t as sappy sweet back then as sometimes is implied.

So, now I know who Avi is. I must say, I enjoyed this book quite a bit, and directly after reading it, resolved in my Newbery notebook that I would try more of this author.