Need historical fiction recs for the Crusades from a POV of "the infidel"

[nmoira]

We're currently in the first iteration of Medieval, and we're reading at least one work of historical fiction for each lesson in History Odyssey. We've done Roland, Charlemagne, and Byzantium, and are about to start Islam and then will move into the Crusades. I'd really like to read two novels with this: one from a distinctly Christian viewpoint (easy to accomplish), and one from another viewpoint -- preferably Muslim and from one of the earlier Crusades. Anything strongly associated with one well drawn personality who dies is out of the question.

I'm thankful for any help. :)

[Sahamamama]

Big John's Secret, by Elanore M. Jewett
Blood Red Horse, K.M. Grant
Saladin and the Kingdom of Jerusalem: The Muslims Recapture the Holy Land in AD 1187, by Lee Hancock (not exactly a novel)
The Door in the Wall, by Marguerite de Angeli

[Lori D.]

The Lance of Kanana
by Harry W. France

Accused of being effeminate and cowardly, the Beduin boy shepherd Kanana grows to win his father's love and respect by recovering a stolen caravan of camels and then of virtually saving Arabia from military defeat

Baldwin Project:
http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=french&book=kanana&story=_contents

or

Amazon:
http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=QmYQAAAAYAAJ&dq=the+lance+of+kanana&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=eaUtiNtW_f&sig=AFbXMlLDntcLDWrMCVVTWIeHH7I#PPA20,M1

[Parabola]

We're currently in the first iteration of Medieval, and we're reading at least one work of historical fiction for each lesson in History Odyssey. We've done Roland, Charlemagne, and Byzantium, and are about to start Islam and then will move into the Crusades.

May I ask specifically what books you have used so far? We are doing History Odyssey Middle Ages level one next year too, and I would love to have ideas on what books to read along with that. Thanks!

[nmoira]

May I ask specifically what books you have used so far? We are doing History Odyssey Middle Ages level one next year too, and I would love to have ideas on what books to read along with that.

DD *really* likes history.

Intro Lesson:
The Door in the Wall

Byzantium:
Anna of Byzantium (great liberties taken with history, but there's not much out there from this period; we discussed the inaccuracies after reading)

Franks:
Our Little Frankish Cousin of Long Ago by Evaleen Stein
Stories of Roland Told to Children by H.E. Marshall
His Majesty's Elephant by Tarr (fantasy, but historically detailed)

Arthur:
Sutcliff's King Arthur Trilogy
Dragon Slayer (Beowulf) by Sutcliff (only because we hadn't done it before)

Monks & the Christian Church:
Augustine Came to Kent

Islam (forthcoming):
Stories of the Caliphs by Johnson-Davies (worth buying if not in your library)

will split Alderson/Foreman's Arabian Nights over this and Arabs lesson

When looking at my notes, I saw just how many lessons there are between this and the Crusades, guess I have a lot more time than I thought. :)

[Lorna]

You might be interested in reading some of these Primary Sources (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/islam/islamsbook.html#Interaction%20with%20the%20West) from the point of view of the Islamic World during the Crusades.

[mcconnellboys]

We like Diane Stanley's Saladin: Nobel Prince of Islam. And it's been a while, but I think when we read The Book of the Lion, Michael Cadnum, that it was not a book that espoused a view that was anti-Islam. I think the main character saw a lot of the bad stuff that went on in the crusades and was disillusioned by it all, etc. I may be hallucinating, LOL, but I think that's the book I'm thinking of.....

Regena

[nmoira]

Thanks for the suggestions thus far. I'm also waiting for my a library copy of My Guardian Angel (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0439576822/) by Sylvie Weil, about a Jewish girl trying to protect her village from passing Crusaders. I'll have to pre-read this one. I'll update this thread with anything else I find.

[nmoira]

As you can see by the fact that it's now a year later, we were significantly diverted along the way. :)

I'm still looking, even though we've officially started the Crusades. I was disappointed at the treatment in SOTW and now want to counter it with something from another POV even more. In addition to the Weil book above, we also have Saladin by Diane Stanley, but I was hoping to find something about the time of the First Crusade.

[Spy Car]

Moira, this is probably not the type of book you are searching for (as in it is not "historical fiction") but I can highly recommend an account by the Lebanese journalist Amin Maalouf entitled "The Crusades Through Arab Eyes".

I read this when it was released back in 1983. While some of the details have dimmed in my mind, I still recall the gripping story telling sense Maalouf had in this work, and how it opened me up to the other side of the story of the Crusades. "The Crusades Through Arab Eyes" is a reasonable and fair-minded account from another vantage point, and a most worthwhile read.

Bill

[Shasta Mom]

Moira - Did you end up reading My Guardian Angel?

[Shasta Mom]

Bill - Is the appropriate to read to a 10 yo? ideas?

[nmoira]

Moira - Did you end up reading My Guardian Angel?Yes, and we're going to use it. The characters are believable and engaging, and the world feels real. I'm not sure it would be appropriate for most grammar stage children because it might be a bit hard to follow: There are many characters, and the narrative shifts in a rather jarring manner between third person and a girl's first person prayers to a guardian angel.

[nmoira]

Moira, this is probably not the type of book you are searching for (as in it is not "historical fiction") but I can highly recommend an account by the Lebanese journalist Amin Maalouf entitled "The Crusades Through Arab Eyes".Thanks Bill, I'd considered this last year then set it aside in hope of finding something fictional (most of our grammar stage history is historical fiction). It looks like I'll have to revisit it, as we could certainly read selections from the book.

[Spy Car]

Bill - Is the appropriate to read to a 10 yo? ideas?

Ugg. I just lost a very long response in a "server busy" hick-up.

The drastically shorter version. You'd have to define "appropriate".

It is certainly a book with an adult target audience. And if memory serves it runs about 300 pages, so it's not "short".

While a "history" book, it is not "dry". Maalouf (a very good journalist) keeps the story exciting and engaging. The right 10 year old might really enjoy it, but I'd guess they would be considered "exceptional".

Maalouf (while writing from an Arab POV) is very fair-minded, and the book bridges a gap between cultures, promoting understanding rather than promoting anger or hatred.

There is (obviously) violence, being the Crusades. And one massacre I recall as upsetting to me. Memory does not serve on sexual content, I don't remember any, but my "internal-censor" for context I've encounter pre-parenthood is often poor.

If you and your child are really interested in the topic, I don't think the book would be "inappropriate", but it's not a typical candidate for a read aloud.

Bill

[Spy Car]

Thanks Bill, I'd considered this last year then set it aside in hope of finding something fictional (most of our grammar stage history is historical fiction). It looks like I'll have to revisit it, as we could certainly read selections from the book.

Moira,

I know you are looking for something other than the story of Salah ed-Din (Saladin), but if you were only going to choose ONE section to read this would be the best portion for showing there were magnanimous and noble characters on "the other side".

Bill

[nmoira]

I know you are looking for something other than the story of Salah ed-Din (Saladin), but if you were only going to choose one section to read this would be the best section for showing there were magnanimous and noble characters on "the other side".Oh, we're going to read the Stanley book, and I'd forgotten about this one by Flora Geyer (http://www.amazon.com/dp/0792255356/), but I want more... :D

[nmoira]

Moira - Did you end up reading My Guardian Angel?
We're almost finished now; it has turned out to be a good choice. I'd say that a child ready for the Cushman trio of medieval books would be ready for this, though it doesn't have the any sexual references (Catherine, Called Birdy contains a few, mostly oblique references... not a big deal for us). The shifting of character names from "father" and "grandfather" to given names in alternate chapters is still a bit confusing even the second time around. Before reading, we reviewed a couple of the Bible stories relevant to the novel: Esther, and Balaam and the talking donkey.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

How about The Ramsey Scallop. This is about a returned crusader and his betrothed/bride who go on pilgrimage. The man is scared from what he saw on crusade. It isn't from the Muslim POV but it is sympathetic to it. The Beduin's Gazelle is by the same author and set in the same period (but has little directly to do with the crusades).

[nmoira]

How about The Ramsey Scallop. This is about a returned crusader and his betrothed/bride who go on pilgrimage. The man is scared from what he saw on crusade. It isn't from the Muslim POV but it is sympathetic to it. The Beduin's Gazelle is by the same author and set in the same period (but has little directly to do with the crusades).
Thanks. :)

[amtmcm]

We are finishing Byzantium (dd read Anna of Byzantium) and will start the crusades next. I've checked out a couple books from the library by Kevin Crossley-Holland. The trilogy is The Seeing Stone, At The Crossing Places and King of the Middle March. It's kind of a two-fer because the story takes place during the crusades when a boy sees King Arthur in a Seeing Stone. I also checked out the "girl interest" book Crossing to Paradise about a girl traveling across Europe to Jerusalem during the crusades.