Another "identify this book" thread, probaby YA fiction?

[Roderick_Femm]

I remember reading this book when I was about the age of the protagonist, maybe around 10, and it was a bit over my head.

It’s about a boy, 10 or 12 years old, in a monastery, maybe in or near Glastonbury. It’s early middle ages, maybe just after the Arthurian period, and the boy has a limp. The story has something to do with the search for the holy grail.

Ring a bell with anyone?
Roddy

[choie]

Judicious Googling suggests strongly it’s The Hidden Treasure of Glaston, by Eleanore Jewett.

@The Newbery Companion

This historical novel takes place in England at the monastery of Glaston during the years 1171-1172 when king Henry II was on the throne. When Sir Hugh de Morville is required to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to atone for his part in the murder of Thomas a Becket, he leaves his crippled 13-year-old son Hugh at the monastery to await his return. At Glaston, Hugh, who can read and write, helps in the scriptorium under the watchful eye of Brother John. He also meets Dickon, a boy his age who has lived his entire life in the monastery. Together the two boys explore the many passages and caverns under the abbey. They encounter a deranged old hermit, Belheris, who tells them stories of King Arthur, who supposedly lived in the area, and of the Holy Grail…

It won the Newbery award in 1947 and seems to still be in print, or at least it’s for sale at Amazon. Enjoy!

PS Next time, don’t forget to say what year (approximately) you read the book. After all, we don’t know when you were ten years old. Not that it matters but sometimes it does help place the publication of the book.

[Roderick_Femm]

Thanks, Choie, I do appreciate it (and I will take your suggestion to heart).

I would also be interested to know more about “judicious googling”. I had tried various combinations of words but no glory. Is there a special trick for this sort of thing?
Roddy

[choie]

My pleasure! A past career was fundraising researcher, which meant a lot of hunting databases like NEXIS for needles in haystacks to find info about potential donors, so I’ve been doing searches for nearly twenty years now.

I wouldn’t say it’s a trick, except that synonyms are always good to try, and to use the bare minimum of terms that will describe the item you’re looking for. It’s true that you’ll get larger results, most of which will be off-topic, but if you’re patient enough to weed through them, it’s better than getting too specific.

F’rex, using your description – which was very good! – my first attempt was simply boy monastery limp grail (without any quotes). When that didn’t work, I thought about how the plot might be described, and changed to boy monastery leg grail. The second result on Google was:

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The Newbery companion: booktalk and related materials for Newbery … - Google Books Result
John Thomas Gillespie, Corinne J. Naden - 2001 - Language Arts & Disciplines - 465 pages
This results in the instant healing of his crippled leg. When Hugh’s father returns, the boy decides to stay at the monastery to reconstruct The Book of the …

That snippet of description sounded right on the nose to me. Checked it out and voila!

Actually, looking now further below the search results list, I see the Amazon listing:

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The Hidden Treasure of Glaston Living History Library: Amazon.co
In 1171, twelve-year-old Hugh, burdened with a crippled leg since birth, … To the Abbot, the books are priceless and the boy a child of God. … Hugh finds monastery life full of surprises. He makes a steadfast friend his own age. … 3.0 out of 5 stars Leave the Grail to Arthur - not a good Christian read., …

Aside from the annoying snippet of the review (“not a good Christian read”) this would be your perfect result. But I didn’t need to look that low in the results.

[iftheresaway]

Thank you, choie, for that very informative advice!