Escape to Ponti

by Brian Slattery, Antonio Javier Caparo (Illustrator)

Overview

Fourteen-year-old Bec learned a lesson that day. Be careful whom you rob.

A slave on the run from his vicious master, Bec is desperate for money. But when he mugs Tien Nu, he gets more than he bargained for. Tien Nu isn't just a superb acrobat and kung fu wizard. He's also killed his father - or so he thinks. As the paths of the two boys become intertwined with the journey of a mysterious knight, mayhem ensues when they head cross-country toward the safety of Ponti, with Bec's slave master in hot pursuit.

A medieval, historical adventure in the Kingdom of Italia.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780889957237
Publisher:	Fitzhenry & Whiteside, Limited
Publication date:	12/20/2023
Pages:	432
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 7.25(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	12 - 18 Years

About the Author

Brian Slattery is a law professor at Osgoode Hall Law School, York University. He is an experienced traveller, currently completing a hike from Canterbury to Rome, and well versed in the martial arts. This is his debut novel. He lives in Toronto, Ontario.

Antonio Javier Caparo is a Cuban born award-winning illustrator living in Montreal. His works have been selected for publication in the prestigious Spectrum Fantastic Art Annual, and his previous clients include National Geographic, Disney, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, and Penguin Random House. His illustrations are made with a mix of graphite pencils on Strathmore paper, and digitally using Procreate and Photoshop.

Editorial Reviews

"Escape to Ponti is a rich, classically-influenced, well-researched, and multi-layered novel that never ceases to draw the reader in with its adventurous plots and intriguing studies in character. Every person in the story—the boys, the Knight, castle lords, peasants, bandits, and servants—are richly portrayed as both complex and archetypical, none completely good nor evil… An enjoyable, well-written, complex and timeless novel.
Highly Recommended"
— CM Magazine

"Hold on to your tunic and truncheon in this actionfilled adventure … Caparo's beautifully detailed graphite pencil and digital illustrations add to the enjoyment."
— Kirkus Reviews

"Readers of all ages looking for nonstop action in medieval times will enjoy this journey to Ponti."
— Historical Novel Society

From the Publisher

2024-01-05
A boy in medieval Italy flees his cruel master and strikes out for freedom.

Faced with being publicly branded by Malaspina, his bad-tempered master, 14-year-old Bec musters his wits, strength, and agility for a daring escape to the forest, planning to make his way south to Ponti. Bec, whose mother has died and whose father is unknown, counts horses and dogs as his best companions and is prepared to make the perilous journey alone. But a chance encounter with a black-haired boy wearing a gold earring results in the two renegades deciding to travel together. Tien Nu, whose Chinese father came from Samarkand and whose mother came from “Alessandria” in “Africa,” is an entertainer who juggles and tumbles—and he carries a heavy secret. Tien Nu teaches Bec some tricks of his trade as they get lost in mysterious tunnels, perform acrobatics and illusions at a wedding, and stay just a few steps ahead of Malaspina, who’s placed a bounty on Bec’s head. Short chapters keep the story moving, with narrow escapes, a dead body, and several bloody battles along the way, while family mysteries are untangled more gently. The characters speak in a casual, modern style, which occasionally distracts but overall reads well. Caparo’s beautifully detailed graphite pencil and digital illustrations add to the enjoyment.

Hold on to your tunic and truncheon in this action-filled adventure. (map, author interview) (Fiction. 10-14)

Kirkus Reviews