| Historical fiction, English - England - Juvenile fiction. She puts her gift to work with the hope that her skills might help her and Wolf survive.'-Back cover. She will have to fight alone, so she battles the adult world, and she battles fear. The journey makes Wolf deathly ill and Emelin learns that she cannot always depend on others. Together, Wolf and Emelin flee to Reading Abbey. Along the way Emelin meets a boy named Wolf who rescues her from a violent thief. She cannot stay safely in her home with the manuscript so she begins a grim wintery journey to what she hopes will be safety. One terrible day, her last relative is killed and Emelin ends up being in possession of a manuscript that belongs to Geoffrey Chaucer. She's also quick-witted, mouthy, and nearly always in trouble. Who has an incredible gift in illuminating manuscripts. 'Emelin Lambert is an eleven-year-old orphan in medieval England. A thoroughly enjoyable read.Book, Online - Google Books The writing moves along quickly, and the author’s knowledge of the subject does not over-weigh her feel for character or story. There are many twists and turns to this story, and some very good and bad characters along with it. Meanwhile he agrees to help Emelin enact her plan, and the two gain shelter at a monastery while Emelin completes her work. Wolf, a little older than Emelin who is barely 12, has his own back story which is to come later. Her plans are fraught with danger however, but luckily she is put in the path of a companion. Emelin is a beautifully written character who bets her life on getting this right. Jackie Randall tells this story with just the right amount of authentic detail and heart. Unless… Could she complete the work without raising suspicion? Emelin has the brains and the courage to give it a try. But through a combination of professional jealousy and misadventure, Calibor meets an untimely end, throwing Emelin into the abyss once again. Calibor has won a special job – illuminating a book for one Geoffrey Chaucer. This poor but happy life is disrupted just at the time when prospects are looking up.

Finding that his niece shares this special talent, he teaches her the trade, which she learns very quickly. Calibor is an illuminator of manuscripts, and a very good one. Having seen first her father, then her mother and still born baby brother, die, Emelin has spent two years with her Uncle Calibor, a kindly if reluctant guardian. This is a first-class historical fiction read for the middle school age group.

Emelin by Jackie Randall