Meredith MacKeen is a teacher-Librarian at Souris Regional High School in Souris, Prince Edward Island The novel has possibilities as a read aloud for grades 5 to 7 and will appeal to independent readers willing to venture beyond contemporary settings. History teachers will appreciate the incidental description of the medieval way of life. English teachers will appreciate the irony and clever integration of the theme of wolves. The simple, direct style builds good suspense and the happy ending will please many. Would a Jewish boy survive raids, Ursula the advances of abusive men, and Bruno the trauma of battles to meet again in Cologne and find a purse of silver coins? Ursula mellows during the experiences but Bruno and her father remain one dimensional. The adventures along the route are an unending series of separations, massacres, starvation and violence, but all ends well.įor a novel which so realistically describes the crusades, the resolution of the plot seems unlikely. Her best friend Bruno is extremely critical of the crusade but ultimately joins Ursula. Her father rescues her from burning at the stake by taking her on the crusade, which is being led by the local count, a suspicious character. Ursula, a healer of both animals and people, is suspected of being a witch. Through all the trauma of life in medieval Europe, the two support each other and eventually marry when they return to Cologne. Ursula, a feisty young healer, along with her friend Bruno, reluctantly joins the First Crusade.
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