The Quest of the Fair Unknown (The Squire's Tales Series #8)

by Gerald Morris

Overview

On her deathbed, Beaufils’s mother leaves him with a quest and a clue: find your father, a knight of King Arthur’s court. So Beaufils leaves the isolated forest of his youth and quickly discovers that he has much to learn about the world beyond his experience. Beaufils’s innocence never fails to make his companions grin, but his fresh outlook on the world’s peculiarities turns out to be more of a gift than a curse as they encounter unexpected friends and foes.

With his constant stream of wise fools and foolish wise men, holy hermits and others of rather less holiness, plotting magicians and conniving Ladies, Gerald Morris infuses these medieval stories with a riotous humor all his own.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780547014845
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	10/06/2008
Series:	Squire's Tales , #8
Pages:	264
Product dimensions:	5.12(w) x 7.62(h) x (d)
Lexile:	770L (what's this?)
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

About the Author

When Gerald Morris was in fifth grade he loved Greek and Norse mythology and before long was retelling the stories to his younger sister and then to neighborhood kids. He began carrying a notebook in which he kept some of the details related to the different stories. The joy he found in retelling those myths continued when he discovered other stories. According to Gerald Morris, “I never lost my love of retelling the old stories. When I found Arthurian literature, years later, I knew at once that I wanted to retell those grand tales. So I pulled out my notebook . . . I retell the tales, peopling them with characters that I at least find easier to recognize, and let the magic of the Arthurian tradition go where it will.” Gerald Morris lives in Wausau, Wisconsin, with his wife and their three children. In addition to writing he serves as a minister in a church.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

A heartwarming and thought-provoking tale, this story is sure to entertain readers.
School Library Journal

"Morris’ retellings of Arthurian legends—and others from English lore, mostly medieval—never disappoint." Booklist, ALA

"This installment . . . maintains the same comfortable balance of epic adventure, earnest idealism, and gentle humor that has made the series so successful in bringing Arthurian legends to young readers." Horn Book

Morris continues his intelligent retellings of Arthurian legends with a tale of multiple quests.
Kirkus Reviews

Editorial Reviews

A heartwarming and thought-provoking tale, this story is sure to entertain readers.
School Library Journal

"Morris’ retellings of Arthurian legends—and others from English lore, mostly medieval—never disappoint." Booklist, ALA

"This installment . . . maintains the same comfortable balance of epic adventure, earnest idealism, and gentle humor that has made the series so successful in bringing Arthurian legends to young readers." Horn Book

Morris continues his intelligent retellings of Arthurian legends with a tale of multiple quests.
Kirkus Reviews —

From the Publisher

Gr 5 Up-Morris continues his tradition of effectively translating the tales of King Arthur for a new generation of readers. Beaufils spends the first 17 years of his life in a forest cottage with his loving mother, never meeting another human being. Then, upon her urging, he goes forth into the world of men, to seek out King Arthur's court and his erstwhile father. This unique background makes the protagonist the perfect foil for the other characters' antics. He bumbles along, innocently taming evil as he seeks his father and helps his friends complete their own quests. While less mature readers will be carried away by the compelling story line and interesting characters, more sophisticated teens will appreciate the dry wit with which Morris reveals his character's flaws. A heartwarming and thought-provoking tale, this story is sure to entertain readers.-Nicki Clausen-Grace, Carillon Elementary School, Oviedo, FL Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Morris continues his intelligent retellings of Arthurian legends with a tale of multiple quests, centered on a young man so innocent of the world that he makes Candide look like Casanova. Never having met another human besides his just-deceased mother, or ventured far from his isolated forest home, Beaufils sets out to find his unknown father and his real name. Regarding all he sees with a fresh eye, and nearly everyone he meets as a potential friend, Beaufils arrives at Camelot just in time to join the Grail Quest, and, traveling with several Knights of the Round Table-notably invincible, tiresomely sanctimonious Galahad-falls into all sorts of colorful encounters with dreamers, schemers, bandits, sectarian hermits and baroque enchantments. With Beaufils, who combines sharp common sense with a fundamental simplicity (not to mention a hunky appearance and plenty of natural martial prowess), Morris creates another immensely likable character whose adventures will leave readers ruminating on foolish promises, surface beauty, narrow-minded religious views, silly misconceptions about the nature of honor and ways of identifying truly worthy quests. (Fantasy. 12-15)

Kirkus Reviews