Friday, August 22, 2008

Avalon High, Meg Cabot (2006)

Cabot is the popular author of several series of books for female adolescents including the somewhat famous Princess Diaries series. This book, perhaps the first in a new series, takes the Arthurian legend to modern high school. It's actually a pretty good read and would make a great companion book to other Arthurian books. The main character mirrors Tennyson's The Lady of Shalott. In our area many students read The Green Knight as a required reading. I am personally a greater fan of Nancy Springer's series that looks at the main characters in the Arthurian group from fresh perspectives. These including I am Morgan le Fay: A Tale from Camelot and I am Mordred: A Tale from Calemot. Both a great books to help students explore voice and point of view. Avalon High would make another nice companion to this set of books but would contribute more to explorations of setting and mood although voice and point of view certainly could be included. FYI--Springer is also taking this series to "manga" (a cartoon style).

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