Crispin: The Cross of Lead (2003)-- Avi

What?!? This was the best children's book of 2003?! The style is so, so, so clunky that the book was really hard to get through with all the eye-rolling I was forced to do. The book tries to evoke a feeling of the past with long-winded descriptions and bizarre sentence structure:

"....[H]e reached over and took up his sack and rummaged through it. From it he took three balls, each made of stitched leather. To my surprise he tossed the balls in the air. Instead of falling on the ground, they stayed in the air and rotated at his will, with only the smallest touch and encouragement of his fingers."

Juggling. He is describing juggling. I suppose this passage is meant to convey Crispin's wonder at such an amazing feat, but it really just makes him sound like a pompous ass. The plot was rather interesting at first (although an enticing anti-religion theme kind of fizzled out disappointingly), but I ultimately didn't care what happened because I seriously loathed Crispin's narrative voice (and consequently Crispin).