Where Valor Lies

As he heard the shouts of the men around him, Richard hardly dared to believe that he was a Crusader about to enter his first battle. Only two years ago he had been a poor Parisian apprentice listening to a monk preach the Crusade of saintly King Louis IX. Here was a chance to see a new world, a chance to fight with others who had taken the Cross for a holy cause, a chance to join the thousands of knights and common men who would rescue the city of Jerusalem from the Saracens. Now only a short stretch of water separated him from the enemy, and the bright banner rallied the King’s troops to face the onrush of Saracens assembled on the Egyptian shore.   Little did Richard know the challenges that lay ahead for a raw young recruit . . . bitter fighting, death, disease and starvation. But there were older men to help him, like Aimar, who taught him the secrets of warfare. And there were others, like light-fingered Vincent, who lived well through thievery and tempted Richard to do the same. With color and vigor, Adele and Cateau De Leeuw capture the spirit of the Crusades in the exciting story of one boy’s experience as he is swept into the drama of a great historical movement.   Hardcover with dust jacket, 186 pages.