by Karen Cushman
Scott County Library audiobook 4 CDs
read by Katherine Kellgren
Published:2012
Genre: YA historical fiction
I'm really surprised that this was published almost ten years ago and I hadn't heard of it! Cushman is one of my favorite YA historical fiction authors. (The Ballad of Lucy Whipple is my favorite of her books.)
Will runs away from the innkeeper who plans to sell him to be a chimney sweep. He proclaims, "I care for no one but myself and nothing but my belly" as he seeks to make his way in the world in the late 1590s. He encounters thieves and charlatans on the road and at Elizabethan fairs. Even as he resolves to trust no one, he puts his trust in others who cheat him.
When he connects with Fitz, "the creature," the blind juggler, and the other oddities, something changes for him. This was an enchanting story with memorable characters.
One of my favorite parts was when Samuel and his pig duchess are trying to distract some rowdy boys by asking some riddles. This is a paraphrase, but you'll get the gist of it.
"Rich men wrap it up and put it in their pockets but poor men throw it away. What is it?"
No one could guess the answer (including this reader). The answer? Snot! A perfect riddle for rude boys.
This was an enjoyable story with lessons layered in about people, relationships, trust, honesty, and valuing what's truly important.
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