Book Summary and Reviews of Will Sparrow's Road by Karen Cushman

Will Sparrow's Road by Karen Cushman

Will Sparrow's Road

by Karen Cushman

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  • Published:
  • Nov 2012, 224 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

In his thirteenth year, Will Sparrow, liar and thief, becomes a runaway. On the road, he encounters a series of con artists - a pickpocket, a tooth puller, a pig trainer, a conjurer - and learns that others are more adept than he at lying and thieving. Then he reluctantly joins a traveling troupe of "oddities," including a dwarf and a cat-faced girl, holding himself apart from the "monsters" and resolving to be on guard against further deceptions. At last Will is forced to understand that appearances are misleading and that  he has been his own worst deceiver. The rowdy world of market fairs in Elizabethan England is the colorful backdrop for Newbery medalist Cushman's new comic masterpiece. 

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Starred Review. Offering action, humor, and heart in equal doses, Cushman's story is, at its core, about creating and claiming a family of one's own." - Publishers Weekly

"Though the story loses steam in the end, many readers will find Will's journey compelling along the way, as he learns that things (and people) are not always what they seem. Grades 5-7." - Booklist

"A compelling coming-of-age road trip." - Kirkus

"[Cushman] manages the tricky balance of keeping her characters engaging and understandable for her audience while still making them very much of their time." - Horn Book

"Fascinating, sometimes seemingly preposterous, details are solidly corroborated in the informative author's note that reflects Cushman's extensive research." - School Library Journal

This information about Will Sparrow's Road was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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More Recommendations

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