Length: 310 Pages, 58 ChaptersCrispin: The Cross of Lead is set in 14th century England --It is a descriptive account from a young boy's point of view what the feudal system of the middle ages was like to actually live in. the story is historically accurate and set when Catholicism was the strong belief of most people in Europe.
I've taken this except about the book from the following website as I feel it accurately records what the book is about better then I can describe:
http://www.whippersnapperbooks.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=Crispin&Category_Code=SN&Product_Count=8
"The story is told in the first person by a young boy. As it opens, he and the village priest are burying his mother. There is some mystery about her: she lived in poverty but somehow apart from the other villagers. She was called Asta, but never told her son his name: he was known only as "Asta's son." With her death, the fragile protection she provided for him begins to crumble and he is suddenly attacked by the steward of the land, who razes (sets fire to) Asta's house, accuses her son of thievery and labels him a Wolf's head (someone who can be killed on sight like an animal). The village priest, Father Quinel, hides the boy and is planning to reveal something to him when he is murdered. Before his death, he manages to tell the boy that his mother could read and write and that she had christened him Crispin; he gives Crispin her lead cross, which bears an inscription. This is all that Crispin has, and all he knows, when he flees his village.
Crispin is in a deadly race with his persuers. Can he survive on his own? Can he trust anyone? Can he discover why he is being hunted before someone finds him and kills him for the Wolf's head bounty? We won't reveal more, but this book will keep both kids and adults up late reading -- maybe with a flashlight."
