I told my kid who is interested in castles and knights that they lived by this weird code called chivalry that made no sense but they wrote a lot of stories about it.

Here's one of them! Imagine you go to a nice party and everything is going well but the next day you find yourself on the America's Most Wanted List and nobody will tell you why!

My son chose the DK book about knights instead. I can't really blame him.

I had to read about Parzival for the next novel I am writing, so choose this shorted version. It was well done for my purposes, especially being in the low knowledge range of the Arthurian legends!

This book was good. I enjoyed

I know I would have loved this book as a kid. As a child, Parzival grew up in the forest in ignorance and knew nothing of his heritage. One day, he met some knights, and that changed everything. He wanted to become a knight, himself. His mother admitted that he was of noble birth and reluctantly sent him to King Arthur's court. Parzival made many blunders and mistakes. Eventually, he found the Grail he spent years searching. The discovery turned him into the knight he was supposed to be. In other legends, Parzival is also known as Galahad.

This story should be an epic adventure. Sadly, it was told in a monotone voice that put me to sleep. I can't imagine that kids would be interested in it.

It is supposed to be a re-telling of the Parsifal legend from the Middle Ages in Germany, and as that it succeeds but I can't imagine that the intended audience (younger children) would be interested in this book. It just goes on and on with more and more obscure names and no development of who they are. Even the battles are boring. It did spark my interest in the original legend though and may be something I will investigate more.

Really just an overview of the epic poem, which I now really want to read.

This is an easy to digest & accurate interpretation of a very complex 13th century writing. It’s a simple way for young readers to be introduced to the complex & fascinating tales of fictional knights & the holy grail. The author did an excellent job compressing the story into one of just enough details & adventures

A good fictional adaptation of the German Grail story

Credit to Katherine Paterson for the variety of subject matter in her children’s books. Parzival: The Quest of the Grail Knight adapts an epic poem from the 1200s A.D., introducing numerous characters common to Arthurian legend. Son of a deceased king, Parzival is raised far from mainstream society, but grows up with obviously regal bearing. A happenstance meeting sends him to King Arthur's court to become a knight; Parzival’s mother sabotages the effort, but a heart as noble and innocent as his is not easily diverted from destiny.

Whatever Parzival puts his hand to has a way of turning golden. He marries Queen Condwiramurs and falls in love with her; he stumbles upon the magic castle at Wild Mountain, not perceiving that here exists a once in a lifetime chance to break the curse of perpetually suffering King Anfortas. Alas, out of politeness Parzival refrains from asking the ultimate question of Anfortas. Parzival is rejected by all as a foolish, evil person who deserves a curse of his own. Separated from any love or comfort, he wanders earth in the fading hope that the enchanted passage to Wild Mountain castle will reopen so he may have a second chance, but is a happy ending in the stars for Parzival?

I appreciate Katherine Paterson's desire to entertain kids using legends of yore, but Parzival: The Quest of the Grail Knight is a mess. Parzival is a strange character with hardly any personality. He's skilled in all combat types without any prior investment of blood, sweat, or tears, and the only serious hardship he encounters—the fallout from not asking the question—isn't his fault. The narrative skims along without immersive language or story elements to make us care about Parzival. Katherine Paterson is one of my favorite authors—I'll forever be in awe of Bridge to Terabithia and The Great Gilly Hopkins—but I can't rate this book better than one and a half stars.

Enjoy this book. Thought of the one by AVI, Lois Lowery and several others that I have read.
Didn't realize that the story is linked to a real epic poem.
Wanting to read the poem.
This young man was focused in what he wanted to do in life.

Parzival and his mom had been living away from other people since Parzival's dad died. Parzival himself did not know his name, when people asked him for his name he would reply "You may call me Yung Master, or whatever you like." Parzival did not know many things. One day three knights rode by Parzival house. A day previous his mom had told him about Hevin, Hell, and God. At the sight of three shiny men Parzival thought they might be God so he kneeled down in front of the horses the knights rode on and said, "Are you god?" The three men stared at him, why did he think they of all people were God? The one of the men said they were knights and they were headed to Author. Of course Parzival wanted to go wherever they were going. Parzival went to his mom and told her what he had seen. After Parzival was done telling her what he had seen she was furious he had seen a knight and she scolded the people who were supposed to keep her son safe. She did not know how to say no to her son so she made him a new set of clothes. She had made the clothes as hideous as posiel thinking people would laugh at him and he would come running home crying. But Parzival did not come running home, he kept on going. Then Parzival was sent on a quest, and only after did he return to his mom.