“A
road’s a kind of holy thing… it brings all kinds of people and all parts of
England together.” Eleven-year-old Adam
loved to travel throughout thirteenth-century England with his father, a
wandering minstrel, and his dog, Nick.
But when Nick is stolen and his father disappears, Adam suddenly finds
himself alone. He searches the same
roads he travelled with his father, meeting farmers, pilgrims, minstrels,
priests, and thieves along the way.
Through these encounters, Adam discovers that somewhere in the crowds of
people are his father and his dog. But
will Adam be able to find them and end his desperate search? (Book jacket)
First published in 1942,
this timeless tale of adventure, friendship, and self-discovery was a winner of
the Newberry Medal. Upon finishing the
book, I immediately thought it might as well have been the precursor to Jack
Kerouac’s On the Road, only this is
for younger readers.
I loved Adam
immediately. He knew what he wanted from
life – he was a minstrel, born and bred.
He couldn’t tolerate the thought of becoming anything else. And so, stuck in an Abbey school where his father
left him for some learning and bored out of his mind, he arranges for a way to
sneak out and visit his faithful beloved spaniel, Nick. One day, his father (undoubtedly the best
minstrel in all the world, thinks Adam) comes back to get him, and he’s sure to
become a real minstrel now that he, his father, and Nick will be on the road
together at last. Thus begins his
adventures. Songs and tales of love and
adventure are learned, money earned and spent, lovely ladies and gallant knights,
hard-won friendships to be made, and shady characters to be met. Recklessly Adam’s father, Roger the minstrel,
lost their war-horse Bayard in a bet to the same culprit who eventually will
steal his Nick. Sorely grieved by the
loss of his dog, Nick goes after the man, and loses his father in the process –
now he is truly alone. But there is no
choice but to keep going and soon he realizes that to a minstrel, the road is
as good a home as any home could be. Filled with
music, wit, life’s wisdom, and beautifully illustrated, I absolutely recommend
this book to one and all.
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