Plot Summary
Set in 1599 England, Will Sparrow's Road follows the adventures of twelve-year-old Will Sparrow as he flees a life of servitude and despair. He joins a troupe of "oddities and prodigies" as they travel the countryside from fair to fair. On the way he discovers what it means to care for someone other than himself.
Critical Analysis
- Writer’s Guide to Everyday Life in the Middle Ages by Sherrilyn Kenyon
- The Time Traveler’s Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century by Ian Mortimer
- Growing Up in Medieval London by Barbara A. Hanawalt
- A World Lit Only By Fire: The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance by William Manchester
- A Medieval Home Companion: Housekeeping in the14th Century translated by Tania Bayard
- Lost Country Life by Dorothy Hartley
- Fabulous Feasts: Medieval Cookery and Ceremony by Madeleine Pelner Cosman
- Gerard’s Herbal: A History of Plants by Marcus Woodward, editor
- Castle by David Macaulay
- Oxford Dictionary of Saints
The oddities and spectacles described in Will Sparrow's Road were not unusual in 16th and 17th century England. Cushman used the first-hand accounts from the diaries of Samuel Pepys (1633-1703) as he described seeing "monkeys dancing on the rope, a goose with four feet and a cock with three, a legless man who danced on his hands, and other oddities." It was not uncommon for many of the oddity specimens to be fake, just as in the case of Master Tidball's specimens. Duchess was inspired by a trained pig from London during the 1780's. Grace Wyse was inspired by the Gonzales family who suffered from a rare genetic condition called hypertrichosis, which caused them to be extremely hairy. Unlike Grace, the real-life Gonzales family was accepted by society.
The food Cushman described throughout Will's travels was accurate for the day. A normal diet for a poor person during this time would consist of bread, cheese, and onions in the morning. If you were rich your bread was made with fine white flour, however, the poor man's bread was made with barley or rye. On a day when Fitz was prosperous, "he dropped an armload of onions, bread, and wedges of crumbly yellow cheese into Grace's lap." They generally had one cooked meal a day which consisted of a mixture of grain, water, and vegetables. If one could afford it, strips of meat were added to the mixture as well. Normally people did not drink water because it wasn't safe to do so. Very young children drank milk, all classes drank ale or beer, and the rich drank wine. Will is mentioned getting ale on several occasions throughout the book. Unlike his father, Will did not have a drinking problem, this was the customary beverage of the day.
The wardrobe in Will Sparrow's Road is also consistent with the time period. The dress of a poor man was garments made out of coarse wool or linen. Those who were rich wore garments made of fine wool, cotton, or silk which may have been embroidered with silk, gold, or silver thread. A jerkin was a jacket worn over a doublet and under a gown, cloak, or cape. "As they ran, they pulled off their hats and caps, doublets and jerkins, and threw them down on the grass near where Will stood." In the crowds described attending the fair, it is easy to detect which class of people they were based on their dress. It is obviously a rich man and his companion described when the story relates a “man in velvet doublet and polished sword kicked a small girl out of his way, which made her cry and his raspberry-silked companion giggle.”
Cushman allows the reader to experience the dialogue of the time without overwhelming them. Some of the words and phrases of the time include: aye, scurvy lord, anon, certes, drinking smoke, hie, mingy moldwarp, knave, axwaddle, good morrow, avaunt, aroint, and nipper. When Will meets the nipper, Nell Liftpurse, her hand is branded with a "T" for her thieveries. The characters remain true to the time period in their dress, in their daily life, and in their dialogue.
The story begins as Will, who was sold by his father in exchange for ale, is caught stealing food from his new master. The innkeeper intends to sell Will to a chimney sweep. "'There always be a market for such,' the innkeeper continued. 'Them don't last long. They lungs go.'" Determined not to face such a dreadful end to his young and troubled life, Will escapes with only the clothes on his back and no boots on his feet. On his travels, Will is deceived time and time again by liars, thieves, and cons. Because of his past history, it is not surprising that his new mantra is self-serving and cynical. "I care for no one but myself and nothing but my belly," is Will's outlook on the world and everyone in it. Every person in Will's life has misused him in some way. He is understandably mistrustful of everyone he meets. When he first joined the troupe of "oddities and prodigies" he disliked them and looked for any opportunity to leave them behind. With no other prospects to keep food in his belly, Will stayed with the troupe and, over time, discovered that they weren't so odd after all. He comes to respect Fitz and realizes that the physical stature of a man does not measure his character. He also realizes that he does care for someone other than himself. When given the opportunity to leave Grace, Fritz, and Benjamin to their own devices, Will returns to help those with whom he has formed a bond. Readers today can relate to the inner struggle of trusting someone after they have been mistreated by people in their past. Although it was difficult for Will to open up his broken and bruised heart, he found healing in his courageous act of friendship in the last stretch of Will Sparrow's Road.
Awards and Honors
Review Excerpts
“A compelling coming-of-age road trip.” Kirkus Reviews
“Offering action, humor, and heart in equal doses, Cushman’s story is, at its core, about creating and claiming a family of one’s own. Readers will be ready to follow Will anywhere from the very first page.” Publishers Weekly, starred review
“‘Will Sparrow was a liar and a thief, and hungry’ begins Karen Cushman’s latest novel. One of her recurring themes is that with enough pluck and mulishness, children will play through the bad hand fate deals them—once they've glimpsed a reason to do so. ‘I care for no one but myself,’ the boy starts out saying, ‘and nothing but my belly!’ while stealing a cold rabbit pie. By the end of Will Sparrow’s Road, when the boy’s conscience blossoms as he envisions a different life, we will have traveled with him through a lively and amusing parade of the late 16th century and through the hero's own personal journey.” —“In His Own Time: Karen Cushman's young hero comes of age in the 16th century.” Michael Sims, The New York Times
“A coming-of-age story set in a very different time from our own, this tale of Cushman's makes this world come alive for middle readers.” Books for Kids Blog
Other Books by Karen Cushman
The Midwife's Apprentice
Catherine, Called Birdy
The Ballad of Lucy Whipple
Visit her website for more
information: http://www.karencushman.com/
Elizabethan England by Ruth Ashby
Food & Feasts in Tudor Times by Richard Balkwill
The Sterkarm Handshake by Susan Price
Connection Activities
- Listen to A Bawdy Elizabethan Evening in Merrie Old England [sound recording] produced by Legacy International (ISBN 3314043999991). Discuss the various instruments used during this time period: fiddle, viola, lute, organ, and harpsichord. Have the students create their own madrigals.
- Divide the students into groups and assign each group a topic concerning the history of 16th century England (e.g. dress, social classes, architecture, food, geography, transportation, entertainment, etc.). Have each group create a poster depicting what they have learned through research about their particular area. When completed, have each group present and explain their poster to the class.
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