Top 5 for Friday - King Arthur for Teens

I am an Arthurian legend fan from way back - a fact that I may have mentioned previously on this blog. I was however disappointed at the "plastic" nature of Tintagel when I visited it ten years ago. Not one skerrick of magic or mystery despite a misty rain falling on the coast. Never mind, there are always the books and my imagination. Another Arthur fan is Annie, a colleague from Auckland Central and today's Top 5 comes courtesy of her pen. For a while there I was completely over King Arthur. Studying umpteen versions on Arthurian romances will do that to a girl. And, he just kept appearing everywhere! I mean – EVERYWHERE! Gargoyles (I *more than 3* Gargoyles), Babylon 5. Cartoon and sci-fi series – whodathunk. So, it takes a lot for me to recommend a King Arthur anything… these 5 YA novels, I do. 5. The night dance / Suzanne Weyn Rowena, the youngest of twelve sisters, loves to slip out of the castle at night and dance in a magical forest. Soon she convinces her sisters to join her. When Sir Ethan notices that his daughters' slippers look tattered every morning, he is certain they've been sneaking out. So he posts a challenge to all the suitors in the kingdom : the first man to discover where his daughters have been is free to marry the one he chooses. Meanwhile a handsome young knight named Bedivere is involved in a challenge of his own : to return the powerful sword, Excalibur, to a mysterious lake. While looking for the lake, Bedivere meets the beautiful Rowena and falls for her. Bedivere knows that accepting Sir Ethan's challenge is the only opportunity for him to be with Rowena forever. But this puts both Bedivere and Rowena in a dangerous situation ... one in which they risk their lives for a chance at love. What’s not to like? Arthurian romance meets Twelve Dancing Princess, with a side order of darkness. 4. Avalon High / Meg Cabot Having moved to Annapolis, Maryland, with her medievalist parents, high school junior Ellie enrolls at Avalon High School where several students may or may not be reincarnations of King Arthur and his court. King Arthur and his cohorts – and enemies – in a modern American high school. But they don’t know it . Fun, with a kicking heroine. 3. Black horses for the king / Anne McCaffrey Galwyn, son of a Roman Celt, escapes from his tyrannical uncle and joins Lord Artos, later know as King Arthur, using his talent with languages and way with horses to help secure and care for the Libyan horses that Artos hopes to use in battle against the Saxons. One of my fav all-time authors – it’s this book that got me out of my ‘I hate King Arthur’ brain. Fav rave. 2. Song of the sparrow / Lisa Ann Sandell In fifth-century Britain, nine years after the destruction of their home on the island of Shalott brings her to live with her father and brothers in the military encampments of Arthur's army, seventeen-year-old Elaine describes her changing perceptions of war and the people around her as she becomes increasingly involved in the bitter struggle against the invading Saxons. With a deep love of Anne of Green Gables, it’s a given I’d gravitate to a book from the point of view of the Lady of Shallott. I love it so much, I own a copy. 1. Here lies Arthur / Philip Reeve Gwyna is just a small girl, a mouse, when she is bound in service to Myrddin the bard - a traveller and spinner of tales. But Myrddin transfroms her - into a lady goddess, a boy warrior, and a spy. Without Gwyna, Myrddin will not be able to work the most glorious transformation of all - and turn the leader of a raggle-taggle war-band into King Arthur, the greatest hero of all time. Brilliant. Wish I owned this. Thought-provoking. Historically accurate (well, sorta, kinda, mostly?) WAY more that 3 this one (thanks Tosca for FYI-ing that expression J). ~ Annie Reference Librarian Teens Here's the link for the full list of Teen Arthurian fiction