Adam of the Road (Puffin Modern Classics) Paperback – Illustrated, October 5, 2006

Adam is an apprentice minstrel, traveling around England with his father and his beloved dog, entertaining at inns and at homes for the wealthy. But when Adam accidentally gets separated from both his father and his dog, he has to set off on a long adventure on his own to find them, and in the process meets people of all ranks in society, most of them kindly and generous, but also including a few thieves and bandits. Grey Vining researched the history, society, songs, poems and English-language idioms of the time, as well as the occasional phrase of Latin that a boy with a few years of schooling might know. Kids will have to do a little work with the dictionary, but for a "hero's journey" story about someone roughly their own age, it should be rewarding.

Got this for my granddaughter as a back to school request I hope she enjoys reading it

I loved this book! Elizabeth Gray Vining’s book has many great lessons for kids. Among them: perseverance in the face of difficulty, learning to get along with others who are different than you.

Excellent story for my 11 and 8 yo sons to enjoy. I read it aloud to them. We had interesting discussion around “what would you do?” Literature allows us to evaluate the mistakes or commendable decisions of others without living the mistakes ourselves. Recommended!

If you're a fan of "road books," (or, as they're more fancifully called, "picaresques"), then ADAM OF THE ROAD should be in your to-be-read pile. The 317 pages -- seemingly too many for a kids' book -- turn like some book in a spring breeze thanks to the ease of its style and the friendliness of its young protagonist, 11-year-old Adam. The boy, a minstrel like his father, Roger, is thoroughly modern in that he loves adventure, dogs, showing off, and being in the thick of the action. This last trait will serve the reader well once Adam gets separated from his father and sees his dog, Nick, snatched. While searching desperately for both, Adam meets all manner of medieval folk, kind and surly, rich and poor, through the rest of the novel. Meanwhile, author Elizabeth Janet Gray embeds details of everyday life in England back then, especially the ins and outs of minstrelsy.It's hard to believe that young readers would object to such an accessible book, but if it's assigned in class, the length and the slow start (typical of older books, where exposition at a book's beginning was de rigueur) may prove two strikes against it from the get-go. A teacher should also take time to introduce it, share some background information on the history and vocabulary, and finally get it off the ground with some spirited dramatic reading. With all that, I see no reason why kids would NOT enjoy Adam's vicarious friendship as he wanders about England on his quest. Really. It's old-school charming and fun, the type of book we adults read and say, "How did I miss THIS as a kid?" Luckily, for the young at heart, books can take you back to the halcyon days with the greatest of ease. Recommended.

Happy to find this book, one of my favorites from my childhood. I read it out loud to my adult daughter as we accomplished a long drive from the northern edge of the U.S. to the southern. She was impressed by the development of the story and the fleshing out of the characters. The author also did a wonderful job of bringing this period to life.

My grandson loves it.

We are a home schooling family and my son is 11. He is taking an online Writing class and this is one of the books he was required to read. Out of all the books he has read in this past year, this one was his very favorite. An easy and fun read filled with adventure. I highly recommend it. I also highly recommend The King's Shadow.