Parsifal's Page

by Gerald Morris

Overview

“Another engaging take on Arthurian legend . . . Morris deftly blends bloody clashes of arms and mysterious enchantments with the many flavors of romance.” —Kirkus Reviews
 
Piers is desperate to become a page to escape the dirty, tedious labor of his father’s blacksmith shop. So when a knight arrives announcing that he’s on “the quest,” Piers begs to go along. Off on a series of adventures he never dreamed possible, Piers and the knight quickly run into difficulties. The knight is slain by Parsifal who is on a quest of his own.
 
Parsifal is unlike anyone Piers has ever met. He doesn’t behave “knightly” at all. Slowly, Piers realizes that being a knight has nothing to do with shining armor and winning jousts. And, as their journey continues, they find that to achieve their quest they must learn more than knighthood: they must learn about themselves.
 
The tale of Parsifal has been told more than that of any other knight, but no one has ever told his story quite like Gerald Morris does in his fourth Arthurian novel, another tour de force of humor, action, magic, and, as always, true love.
 
“Entertaining . . . Arthurian fans will be hooked by the great writing.” —School Library Journal
 
“Libraries where Morris’s Arthurian series has a following will certainly want to add this to their fiction collections.” —Booklist

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780547349527
Publisher:	Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publication date:	12/15/2020
Series:	Squire's Tales Series , #4
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	244
Sales rank:	620,260
Lexile:	760L (what's this?)
File size:	7 MB
Age Range:	10 - 11 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.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 5-8-As he did in The Squire's Tale (Houghton, 1998), the author retells a knight's legend from the perspective of his helper and companion. In this entertaining and substantive story, Piers's wanderlust takes him to the court of King Arthur where he meets up with a lost soul, Parsifal, who longs to be a knight. Piers's mother has regaled him with stories of her life as a maid-in-waiting at the French court, so he has grown up with lofty ideas and the ambition to become a knight's page. Parsifal is clearly in need of his expertise. Readers familiar with the legend will recognize the main events. After Parsifal fails to ask "the" question and realizes his mistake, he continues his Grail quest alone, and Piers joins Sir Gawain and his page on further adventures, thus continuing the story begun in The Squire's Tale. Piers's overly earnest attempts to do the right thing and Gawain's wit provide most of the humor in the story, but the author avoids cheapening the significance of the Grail quest. Readers unfamiliar with Parsifal and Gawain's stories may wish for a "who's who" to keep up with the characters, but the sheer fun of this novel will keep them going. Unfortunately, the cover art looks like a video game and doesn't fit the story. Once past it, Arthurian fans will be hooked by the great writing. Katherine Paterson's Parzival (Dutton, 1998) is a more traditional retelling that would appeal to similar readers.-Cheri Estes, Detroit Country Day School Middle School, Beverly Hills, MI Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal

Morris (The Savage Damsel and the Dwarf, 2000, etc.) serves up another engaging take on Arthurian legend. Discarding the religious accretions overlaying the Grail quest, he renders it both simpler and more mysterious. Parsifal, who appeared briefly as a rustic strongman in earlier Morris tales, must now mold himself into the Round Table's greatest knight. Yet Parsifal's transformation is secondary to that of Piers who, longing for French courtly glamour, rejects his father's efforts to teach him smithcraft, renames himself Pierre, and latches onto a passing knight as his page. When his first knight proves a disappointment, Piers reluctantly engages to tutor the uncouth Parsifal in courtesy. While Piers is astonished at Parsifal's knightly prowess, the page's snobbish insistence on strict propriety leads his master to disaster. Cast aside, Piers embarks on another quest, to redeem Parsifal's failure-and his own. While the story stands on its own, it leads to predictable territory for fans of the series, as Piers is guided by Sir Gawain, Squire Terence, and other familiar faces to value true honor and courage. Morris deftly blends bloody clashes of arms and mysterious enchantments with the many flavors (sweet, bitter, and spicy) of romance, generously seasoned with wry humor and a dash of unexpected pathos. An elegiac air overhangs Camelot, as if the gracious morning of chivalry yields to a more robust yet mundane day. In his witty Author's Note, Morris confesses that he doesn't know what the tale means; but he loves it. So will the reader. (Fiction. 10-15)

Kirkus Reviews