The Road to Damietta

Book excerpt: The Newbury Award-winning author delivers “what may be his finest novel” in this young adult narrative of Saint Francis of Assisi and the Fifth Crusade (Publishers Weekly). Rich in the atmosphere of thirteenth-century Italy, The Road to Damietta offers a fascinating new perspective on the man who became Saint Francis of Assisi: the guileless, joyous man who praised the oneness of nature and sought to bring the world into harmony. Thirteen-year-old Ricca di Montanaro, who secretly loves the young Francis, watches in awe as he disavows his rich father and declares himself a servant of Christ. Following him on his journey, Ricca recounts Francis’s attempt to bring peace amidst the bloodshed of the Fifth Crusade. “Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace,” he said. “Where there is hatred, let me sow love, where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.” And so he set off on the road to Damietta…