1212: Year of the Journey

by Kathleen McDonnell

In a world where thousands are dying over matters of religion, where do you go? What do you believe? Who do you put your own faith in? These questions, so relevent to growing up in 2006, are also questions faced by young people hundreds of years ago.

Genres: History

290 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

I was born in the U.S. and have lived in Canada most of my adult life. My writing cuts across many genres - fiction, plays, non-fiction, young-adult, you name it. Visit my website to find out more about my books and plays, and for info on my fantasy-adventure trilogy The Notherland Journeys, about a teenage girl with the ability to create imaginary worlds.

Reviews

[Jennifer Wardrip · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reviewed by Carrie Spellman for TeensReadToo.com

Faith is an interesting thing. Is a person's faith best placed in ideas and beliefs? Is it best put in other people? Can't you do both?

1212 mainly follows the story of three young people: Blanche, Abel, and Etienne. They are extremely unlikely allies, leading a crusade of children from Europe to the Holy Land. Etienne is the one with the vision, literally. Abandoned by his mother, and left to his uncle's charity, Etienne is visited by a vision. A vision that tells him he will lead a crusade of children that will change the world. Etienne is a firm Catholic, and knows he cannot escape a calling from God. Abel is the first person to befriend and believe in Etienne. He encourages Etienne to believe in himself and carry on with his purpose. The truly strange part? Abel is Jewish. It may not seem so strange today, but back in Medieval times most religions didn't appreciate each other. Then again, maybe it's still pretty true. As the crusade grows in size Abel becomes a trusted friend and adviser to Etienne. And the more time passes, the guiltier he feels about keeping his true self a secret. Blanche is a Good Christian, a sect of Christianity that chooses to follow God, not the Pope. Consequently, they are being hunted down and persecuted. Blanche has seen her whole family, her whole town, burned to the ground. She joins the crusade because she believes in Etienne and his cause, but she hides her true self, too.

Both Abel and Blanche worry that Etienne will not accept them if he knows the truth. As time passes it becomes harder and more dangerous to conceal. There is some amount of animosity and competition between the two over Etienne's attention and affection, though they alone know the truth about each other.

Etienne's biggest concern, the thing that nearly ends his faith in his mission time and again, is the animosity of the Pope. The Pope refuses to recognize Etienne's vision or his Crusade. The Pope doesn't believe that Etienne could have had a "vision," and declares them all too young to Crusade. He orders them to stop. How long and how far can they go when it seems that so much is against them? And how true is a friendship based on a misconception?

Historically accurate and based on actual events, this book is a wealth of information and questions. I learned a lot about various religious histories. But, it also made me wonder about a lot of things. I don't know what I think about all of the "religious vision" occurrences, both in this book and in the world, but I think it's odd for someone to be able to say that one person's vision is valid and another's is not. Where exactly is that line? I think it's a great thing that people from different backgrounds and walks of life could all be brought together by an idea; it's just too bad that the whole thing could possibly be destroyed by a declaration of religious ties. It's even more disturbing to realize how little we've accomplished on that front in nearly 800 years.

[Touny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Summary: Blanche's city Béziers gets attacked by a crusading army because that city contains heretics, but Blanche survives by hiding in a wool barrel; she loses her family and is put in a place where she is taken care by nuns. Étienne a Shepard has a dream where he is visited by Saint Nicholas, and is told by him that he must lead a crusade a children. Étienne looks for support in Paris, but gets rejected by the king, but with the help of his new friend Abel, the two gain much support as they head to Marseille, with Étienne preaching their way there, they also on the way there met up with Blanche who ran away from the nuns . When the got to Marseille Étienne believed that the waters would part for him like they did for Moses, but they did not and instead they were offered to ride on a boat for free from some merchants, which turned out to capture and sell Abel, Étienne and the crusaders as slaves, ( Blanche stayed in Marseille for she was afraid something bad might happen). Étienne gets martyred, and Abel becomes an adviser of the sultan in Egypt, but later returns to France years later and finds Blanche who is now married and they share what they have done for the past years.

I chose this book because it had a nice cover and when I read the synopsis, it seemed interesting.
I finished this book because it was pretty interesting at most parts and because I was curious to find out how the children's crusade performed.
I recommend this book to Vidhu because this book teaches much about medieval history and religion which he might have interest in.

[Meaghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gripping, fascinating story about a little-known, semi-mythical event in history. The author is able to educate the reader without compromising the story, and the message of religious tolerance is strong but not overblown. A short afterword provides more historical details. I learned a lot, and I think young people will really like this book.

UPDATE: The thought just occurred to me: the author never explained how Abel, the Jewish character, was able to hide his circumcision.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very engaging Young Adult work of historical fiction that tells the stories of the Children's Crusade from a variety of participants' viewpoints, Christian and Jewish, male and female, and later in the narrative includes some Muslim characters. What struck me especially about the book was all the characters' need for a purpose in life.

[Jeffrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am teaching this novel on Wednesday and had forgotten what a superlative storyteller McDonnell is - this is a powerful novel about the great Children's Crusade of 1212 - brutal, thoughtful and compassionate - it asks us all to learn to be tolerant and to stop seeing children as incapable!