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The Inquisitor's Tale: Or, The Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog
The Inquisitor's Tale (Gidwitz, 2016).jpg
Author Adam Gidwitz
Illustrator Hatem Aly
Language English
Set in 13th century France
Publisher Dutton Children's Books
Publication date
September 27, 2016
Pages 384
Awards 2017 Newbery Honor
ISBN 9780142427378

The Inquisitor's Tale: Or, The Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog is a young adult novel written by Adam Gidwitz and illuminated (in the medieval sense) by Hatem Aly, published by Dutton Children's Books in 2016. It is set in medieval France and describes how three magical children meet each other and become outlaws. It was named a Newbery Honor book in 2017.

Plot summary

The novel is told by multiple narrators, all travelers at the Holy Cross-Roads Inn near Paris, set in early March 1242. Marie, a brewer from the town of Saint-Geneviève, starts the story of Jeanne and the greyhound Gwenforte. The second hero, William, is introduced by a monk who serves as the librarian at the Monastery Saint-Martin. Jacob, the third, is introduced by Aron, the butcher in Nogent-sur-Oise. Each narrator is prompted to tell their tale by their fellow travelers; as a framing device, the Inn sequences are told from the perspective of Étienne, an agent of the Pope's Holy Inquisition.

The three children each have a different power. Jeanne is able to see the future, William has big size and physical strength, and Jacob can heal almost any wound. They are pursued by King Louis IX and his agents after interfering with the events following Disputation of Paris, when hundreds of copies of the Talmud were burned.

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