Scholastic Booktalk

AT THE CROSSING PLACES
by Kevin Crossley-Holland
Published by Arthur A. Levine Books

Arthur's now a squire, a dream finally come true. But with that dream have come difficult and puzzling questions about his parents, his siblings, his friends, and his role in the world.

Arthur's life is more confusing than ever. He is now squire to Lord Stephen de Holt and is about to go on crusade. But for every adventure, there also seems to be a problem or a fear. Arthur now knows that his blood father is Sir William, a brutal and harsh man, a murderer whom Arthur hates and fears. He longs to search for his true mother, but doesn't really know how to go about it. And he worries that because he is left-handed, he will never be as good at fighting and swordplay as he needs to be for the crusade.

He is also beginning to discover that there are secrets surrounding him, that not everyone is willing to tell him the truth, and that if he is making new friends, he may also be making new enemies. Then when he visits his father, Arthur learns that he is heir to a small manor and the land that goes with it. But he still doesn't know whom his mother is or if she is alive. He even begins to wonder if he will ever go on crusade, after all. The group of knights who seemed so united is beginning to disagree and conflicts are becoming more common.

And what about his seeing stone? He still watches the stories unfold in its shining surface and still wonders what they mean and what truths they reveal. Does the stone hold the secrets to his past, his present, and his future? How is he related to the king in the stone who bears his own name?

Arthur is indeed at a crossing place, a crossroads where he must decide what direction his life will take. No matter what he decides, his reality will change in ways he cannot even imagine. Which way will he turn? What will be most important to him? And who will be most important and most central in his life?

Booktalk by Joni R. Bodart

 

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  Crossing to Paradise by Kevin Crossley-Holland Gatty is a field girl on a manor. She has never seen busy London or the bright Channel, the snowy Alps of France or the boats in the Venetian sea. She has not sung in the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem or prayed at the manger in Bethlehem -- or been kidnapped, or abandoned, or kissed, or heartbroken. But all these things will change. As Gatty journeys with Lady Gwyneth and a prickly new family of pilgrims across Europe to the Holy Land, Kevin Crossley-Holland reveals a medieval world as rich and compelling as the world of today it foresees -- and, in Gatty, a character readers will never forget. $17.99 books;hardcover books;hardcovers | Ages 9-12

  
  Crossing to Paradise
  Ages 9-12 $17.99
  
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  Crossing To Paradise by Kevin Crossley-Holland Gatty is a field girl on a manor. She has never seen busy London or the bright Channel, the snowy Alps of France or the boats in the Venetian sea. She has not sung in the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem or prayed at the manger in Bethlehem -- or been kidnapped, or abandoned, or kissed, or heartbroken. But all these things will change. As Gatty journeys with Lady Gwyneth and a prickly new family of pilgrims across Europe to the Holy Land, Kevin Crossley-Holland reveals a medieval world as ric $17.99 Hardcover Book | Grades 7-Up

  
  Crossing To Paradise
  Grades 7-Up $17.99
  

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