The Inquisitor's Tale: Or, The Three Magical Children and their Holy Dog by Adam Gidwitz and read by the author and a full cast

Summary from Goodreads:

1242. On a dark night, travelers from across France cross paths at an inn and begin to tell stories of three children. Their adventures take them on a chase through France: they are taken captive by knights, sit alongside a king, and save the land from a farting dragon. On the run to escape prejudice and persecution and save precious and holy texts from being burned, their quest drives them forward to a final showdown at Mont Saint-Michel, where all will come to question if these children can perform the miracles of saints.

Join William, an oblate on a mission from his monastery; Jacob, a Jewish boy who has fled his burning village; and Jeanne, a peasant girl who hides her prophetic visions. They are accompanied by Jeanne's loyal greyhound, Gwenforte . . . recently brought back from the dead. Told in multiple voices, in a style reminiscent of The Canterbury Tales, our narrator collects their stories and the saga of these three unlikely allies begins to come together.

Beloved bestselling author Adam Gidwitz makes his long awaited return with his first new world since his hilarious and critically acclaimed Grimm series. Featuring manuscript illuminations throughout by illustrator Hatem Aly and filled with Adam’s trademark style and humor, The Inquisitor's Tale is bold storytelling that’s richly researched and adventure-packed.

Review:

As I said on Goodreads, this is probably one of the best middle grade books I have ever read. The storytelling component was unbelievable. The story was unlike any other middle grade book out there. The closest thing this resembles is the classic, Canterbury Tales. It actually has very similar humor to Canterbury Tales, filled with fart jokes and other things sure to make kids laugh out loud. It's both weirdly kind of religious, and kind of not religious at all because it's really about accepting all different people with all different faiths.

This was magical. I almost didn't read it because of the initial sad story of the dog. But, the dog comes back to life and I'm so glad I didn't stop. I also had the pleasure of listening to the audio (read by a full cast) and it was like seeing an amazing play. I highly recommend this one, especially the audio.

This wasn’t what I was expecting. It was better. I knew it would be about 3 special kids. I had no idea the scope of what this author was trying to accomplish. He really made a story about three underdog saints interesting to an Atheist Jew. Granted, one of the saints was Jewish. And another was a peasant girl (loosely based upon Joan of Arc). And a major plot point was them attempting to prevent the burning of thousands of Jewish texts.

It was a story really about 3 drastically different people learning to see beyond their differences. It was a story of friendship. And it was also a story of faith (faith in whatever God the character believed in), but also faith in knowing to do the right thing.

There’s also the ever-present mystery of who the narrator is. I had no idea! And how on earth the nun could know so much information. And how exactly was it possible for the greyhound to come back from the dead. You learn all these things at the end. And I was genuinely surprised. I loved that the author was not who I thought at all. And there are enough twists in here to keep any plot reader pleased.

I loved the setup for the stories and how different characters got to share their piece of the pie. I loved seeing how different people in France viewed and felt about the children. I love books that have stories within stories. It really highlights the significance of storytelling.

All in all, this was a masterpiece. The plot was action-packed and moved at a nice pace. The characters were mysterious and fascinating. The world was scary, yet real. The humor was over-the-top, but in a delightful way. The strong emphasis on story was super appealing to me. I also loved that it was a friendship and acceptance story at its core. The research that must have been involved is nuts. I’m extremely impressed here. I give this a 10/10.