Crossing to Paradise, which tells the story of Gatty, a simple, medieval field girl, completes Crossley-Holland’s “Arthur Trilogy.” The hero of those books, Arthur de Caldecott, had been Gatty’s companion before setting off to join the ill-fated Fourth Crusade. Returning without setting foot in the Holy Land, Arthur discovers that Gatty and Lady Gwyneth have left—for the Holy Land. When the group finally returns, Gatty and Lady Gwyneth have gained an un derstanding of Moorish culture and customs, and Lady Gwyneth has become an accomplished young woman, ready to assume her life as landowner and Ar thur’s wife. Crossley-Holland has again woven a rich tapestry of medieval life that can resonate with today’s young readers. (n.b., The “Arthur Trilogy” was reviewed in Crossing Boundaries with Children’s Books, p. 309). 2009 USBBY Outstanding International Books List. Kevin Crossley-Holland’s awards include the Carnegie Medal and Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize. mln

Originally published as Gatty’s Tale by Orion Children’s Books Great Britain, in 2006.

The irresistible Gatty discovers that "Every step that you take on pilgrimage is a step toward paradise" in this gorgeously written adventure by master medieval chronicler Kevin Crossley-Holland.

Gatty is a field girl on a manor. She has never seen busy London or the bright Channel, the snowy Alps of France or the boats in the Venetian sea. She has not sung in the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem or prayed at the manger in Bethlehem -- or been kidnapped, or abandoned, or kissed, or heartbroken. But all these things will change. As Gatty journeys with Lady Gwyneth and a prickly new family of pilgrims across Europe to the Holy Land, Kevin Crossley-Holland reveals a medieval world as rich and compelling as the world of today it foresees -- and, in Gatty, a character readers will never forget.