Awards and Honors2008 Carnegie Medal | 2008 Booklist Editors’ Choice: Books for Youth; 2008 School Library JournalBest Books, Fiction | Kirkus Reviews Best Young Adult Book of 2008; 2009 ALA Best Books for Young Adults
When Gwyna's village is burned, a bard named Myrddin takes her in. He immediately puts her to work helping him invent legends to legitimize the violent rule of his master. Myrddin serves the same brutish warlord who burned Gwyna's village, and her first job is to present the warlord, who is named Arthur, with a supposedly magical sword-by swimming underwater with the sword and holding it aloft in the middle of a lake. Gwyna enjoys her adventurous new life but soon grows uncomfortable with her role in enabling Arthur's vicious reign.
Summary Having swum away from Arthur’s raid on her master’s lands, Gwyna is discovered by Myrddin, who conceives for her the role of “lady of the lake,” the divine conferrer of Arthur’s authority. This serves as Gwyna’s introduction to the truth behind the tales Myrddin has been weaving. It also necessitates that she assume a new identity, so she becomes the boy Gwyn, Myrddin’s servant. In her travels with Myrddin, and in a later guise as hand-maiden to Gwenhwyfar, Gwyna observes the details of Arthur’s inner circle and learns how legends are made.
Topics King Arthur. Raids. Escapes. Magic. Kingmakers. Tricks. Stories. Disguises. Girls dressing like boys. Gender roles. Alliances. Religion. The Legend of the Green Knight. Roman towns. Hot springs. Battles. Political marriages. Secrets. First menstruation. Heroes. Battle wounds. Love. Trysts. Betrayal. Jealousy. Suicide. Cowardice. Illness. Death.
SRC Level 5.700000
SRC Points 18.000000
Lexile 890L
Trim Size 5 1/2" x 8 1/4"
JLG Span Fall
Language English
Publication date 2008-10-31
JLG Release Date Dec 2008
Minimum grade 5
Maximum grade 8
Reading level Middle
Format Print
Fantasy/Science Fiction Middle Plus (Grades 5-8)
Fantasy/Science Fiction Middle Plus
Fantasy/Science Fiction Middle Plus (Grades 5-8)
For Grades 5-8
Your middle-school readers will thrill to new futures, fantasy realms, and alternate realities. Readers will look forward to discovering a new world monthly with the 14 books in this category.