The Knight of Sticks and Straw

Cristina is just a frightened servant girl who works in the palace. Until, that is, she gets tangled up in a cunning plot. She will be crucial in the success of the great knight El Cid's last battle and the safety of the entire city against the attacking Berbers. She will have to find new depths of courage to play her part. An unusual tale, based on a real medieval knight, this story is full of Terry Deary's dark humour and dry wit. Castile, Spain, 1099. Cristina is just a frightened servant girl, until she becomes a crucial player in fighting back the Berber invasion. Will she have the courage to support the great knight, El Cid, in his final battle? Terry Deary began his writing career with fiction for A&C Black. He is now author of over 140 fiction and non-fiction books, which have been published in 32 languages. His historical fiction for older children Tudor Terror has been praised as "a marvellous blend of fact and fiction" (School Librarian). His non-fiction has been consistently in the best-seller lists since 1994. His Horrible Histories celebrated their 10th anniversary in 2003, having sold 10 million copies worldwide and been adapted as television animations, theatre tours and museum exhibitions. Terry Deary was voted "Outstanding children's non-fiction author of the 20th Century" by Books for Keeps magazine.