Eleanore M. JewettRezensionen

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I gave this two stars the other day, and I decided to come back and say why. Because I read this years ago, and I have no idea if I would actually rate it two stars if I had read it later on. I read it when I was in middle school, and even though I liked it somewhat, I didn't fully understand it or enjoy it that much. The two stars are for how much I liked it then. I have no idea if I might like it better at an older age. And I'm sure actually has merit, no matter what I thought, so I'm really glad some of my friends enjoy it!

Hugh is taken by his father (who is fleeing England on charges of treason) to live with the monks at the Abbey at Glastonbury. He finds a happy home there among the scribes and scholars, and makes friends with another young resident and an old, crazy hermit. Between the three of them, they stumble into a search for the Holy Grail, which they believe to be hidden on the monastery grounds.
A solid entry in the Newbery Honor Book ranks, with interesting characters and a fair mystery.

Well written, as one would expect from Eleanore Jewett, and enjoyable collection of very nice stories. I'm familiar with the Chinese equivalents of some of these stories, and a wee bit perplexed by happy endings to stories that have sad or bone-chilling endings in China. Jewett gives a bibliography of her sources, so that would indicate that they are authentic, and I'm left wondering: did she tweak the sad and scary bits, or do the Koreans tell happier stories than the Chinese, or are these just the little-kid versions?