There's a religious and spiritual theme present throughout the whole story and blind faith plays an enormous part in the actions of many of the children. God is another major character in the book and I thought it was a unique idea to introduce him through Rufus's eyes and as a real and substantial character in his own right. I thought that Collins perfectly captured the excitement and exhilaration they experience when they initially get a taste of real freedom for the first time and then the reality that gradually begins to permeate their consciousness when their siblings and friends begin dying. These are children who are starving, thirsty and exhausted at an age when they should be at home with their parents. Nick believes in the Crusade but is often blind to much of what's happening around him and doesn't notice the horror of children dying along the way and many having to be left behind because they're too weak to walk any further. He's captivated from the start by the charismatic Nick, who leads the group on the road to Jerusalem. He tries to do what he believes in but he also always tries to do what is right. The story focuses on Rufus, who is a likable and appealing narrator. It's incredible to imagine all these young children and teenagers setting out on such a long journey where death and hardship is waiting around every corner and so it was interesting to read such a captivating account of an event which robbed mothers and fathers of their offspring. The book reminded me slightly of 'Crusade' by Linda Press Wulf, which is also an interpretation of the journey but which focused on the more well known version of events with the children eventually being sold into slavery. Collins has chosen to concentrate on the Crusade from Cologne to Genoa and then Rome.
There are various accounts of what actually happened but B.R.
'The Broken Road' is set in 1212 and is a fascinating take on the Children's Crusade which involved a band of children setting out on their own to try to rid the Holy Land of Muslims.
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