Historically interesting but just not my jam. ( )

Will Sparrow’s Road - Cushman
audio performance by Katherine Kellgren
4 stars

Will Sparrow is an Elizabethan Huckleberry Finn. Running away from an abusive situation he finds himself on the road with itinerant, market fair charlatans and side show freaks. This is excellent historical fiction for a middle grade audience. The lively setting is a great introduction to an important historical period. There’s also plenty of material to encourage meaningful discussion. Huck has his relationship with Jim to expand his world view. Will Sparrow has the dwarf, Lancelot Fitzgeoffrey and the cat-faced girl, Grace Wyse to teach him the meaning of true friendship. And there’s Duchess, the pig who can count. What could be better?
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This was much closer to the early Karen Cushman books that I love! ( )

This was much closer to the early Karen Cushman books that I love! ( )

Set in anywhere England of the Elizabethan period this story is full of adventure and you keep reading hoping to see him find some kind of loving home. Nowadays we have programs, systems, and other means to keep children fed or in a home, not all are accounted for, but in these times a child was left to his own skills or mind to make it out alive. He winds up with carnival folk, after being fooled a few times by con artist, and he learns how be part of a family. I think this story brings hope to those who feel a little left out, I like the story as it is based in a realistic setting.