At the Crossing-Places

I usually do not read the reviews of others until I have written mine so I won't be influenced. I very much enjoyed the first book in the series, The Seeing Stone. I was surprised at how many "kid reviews" were run and have to repeat something I did in my first review. I consider these works by Kevin Crossley Holland outstanding and gave it five stars just as I give this one. However, I am concerned about the emphasis that the books are for children. It is true there is no profanity to the extreme, I refer to the implications of sexual activities that children under their teens may have problems with. If young children are to read these then their parents should screen them to discuss certain elements. There are also very good philosophical concepts that may be beyond the understanding of young children. This comes from a retired teacher and principal now turned author and magazine publisher. Now on to the very excellent At The Crossing Places. This is a continuation of the story of Arthur formerly of Caldicot now of Holt, in the early twelve hundreds. Now aged 15, Arthur is a squire and has learned that his parentage is not as he long believed. He has a real father who is a murderer and a real mother he wants to find. Arthur's desire is to be a knight and to build a life for himself, almost his own little kingdom. He is realistic about things around him and has a sense of justice beyond any of the other characters in the book. What Holland does so well is depict the times with more information than you'll find anywhere else about the way people lived in England at this point of history. It covers their life styles, beliefs, and their environment better than any such I have read before. Holland has done his research. His characterizations are excellent and far ahead of the society in the "seeing stone". Like the first book, this is a double story as in the "seeing stone", given Arthur by Merlin, he sees scenes from the life of the legendary King Arthur. There are definite parallels in the lives of both Arthurs which is the justification for combining the two tales. The only real justification in my opinion as the books would stand alone without the Arthurian legends which are in many ways flawed. My only quarrel with Holland is that the Kind Arthur whose story he follows is too much Thomas Mallory and T. H. White. I was glad that some of the young readers were newly introduced to King Arthur, but would want them to read much better books like the series of books by Stephen Lawhead and Mary Stewart. Both have researched King Arthur to the point that you have no doubt that such a king once lived. I have had the pleasure of twice visiting some of the locations connected with Arthur in England and this too has added to my own understanding. There are many other authors beyond the two I recommended and many have written for children. Certainly Holland's books are much healthier reading than the Harry Potter series and

The Crossing=Places by Kevin Crossley-Holland was the second book in this fantastic trilogy "Arthur". This story is about a young boy, becoming a man, named Arthur de Caldicott.This is VERY hard to write without saying stuff about the 1st book*First all of please read book 1, Arthur: The Seeing Stone*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~In this book, The Crossing=Places, we once again meet young Arthur de Calidicot, now a squire to Lord Stephan of Holt. In this story, Arthur meets Lord Stephan's daring neice, Winnie, and also many other important faces. He is forced, yes literally forced, by Lord Stephan to visit his real father Sir William at Gotermore, one of his father's manors. It was not a pleasant visit but yet Arthur was not injured like their last meeting.Arthur has mixed feelings. His half-sister, Grace, (in the first book, she was his cousin) can no longer be betrothed to him and both are very upset. Grace is even ANGRY at him! His new friend, Winnie, Lord Stephan's neice, has been kissing him. He has begun feelings of romance towards her and blushes every time her name is spoken. You'll have to read this awesome, amazing, magical book to find out more about Arthur's continuing tales!!((A little description of Winnie, Lord Stephan's neice: flaming red-gold hair, chestnut brown colored eyes, age 12 or 13, a year younger than Arthur))

The Crossing=Places by Kevin Crossley-Holland was the second book in this fantastic trilogy Arthur. This story is about a young boy, becoming a man, named Arthur de Caldicott.This is VERY hard to write without saying stuff about the 1st book *First all of please read book 1, "Arthur": The Seeing Stone*In this book, The Crossing=Places, we once again meet young Arthur de Calidicot, now a squire to Lord Stephan of Holt. In this story, Arthur meets Lord Stephan's daring neice, Winnie, and also many other important faces. He is forced, yes literally forced, by Lord Stephan to visit his real father Sir William at Gotermore, one of his father's manors. It was not a pleasant visit but yet Arthur was not injured like their last meeting.Arthur has mixed feelings. His half-sister, Grace, (in the first book, she was his cousin) can no longer be betrothed to him and both are very upset. Grace is even ANGRY at him! His new friend, Winnie, Lord Stephan's neice, has been kissing him. He has begun feelings of romance towards her and blushes every time her name is spoken. You'll have to read this awesome, amazing, magical book to find out more about Arthur's continuing tales!! ((A little description of Winnie, Lord Stephan's neice: flaming red-gold hair, chestnut brown colored eyes, age 12 or 13, a year younger than Arthur))

Kevin Crossley Holland's Arthur at the Crossing Places is a ver unique book. It is told from a view of a 13 year old boy named Arthur who lives in the 1200's. Arthur received a stone of obsidian from his wise and mysterious friend Merlin that is very unique. This stone shows Arthur the tail of King Arthur and his Knights of the round table. The stone also shows things that relate to Arthur's life. Arthur is starting out his life as a squire under Lord Stephen and is preparing for the crusades. Arthur has also just found out that he is truly Sir William's son and learns a secret about him and his mother. Now, Arthur seeks out to know who his mother is, what she looks like, and the reason she gave him away. At first I had to admit I didn't want to read this book because of its size, but after I started reading I couldn't put it down. Kevin Crossley Holland id a wonderful job of re-telling the story of King Arthur in a new and inventive way. I would greatly recommend the book for kids and adults over the age of 12, especially if you are a fan of legends. Truly, I'm not a really big fan of King Arthur I thought this book was great. Before reading this book, I would greatly recommend reading Arthur: The Seeing Stone, for it describes all of the character's history and the stone much better. Otherwise, this book is a must read

I love this book! It's just as good as the first, I recommend this book to everyone and anyone who likes to read and who's into the whole King Arthur thing. It has adventure, romance, action and mystery, I just can not wait until the next book. It's a good book,read it. I guarantee you'll like it, the only thing is, you have to read the first book to understand this one.