Same Old Thing

I found it hard to enjoy Avalon High because of its relation to EVERY OTHER HIGH SCHOOL MOVIE. They all have the same stereotypes: nerds getting bullied by jocks, the cheerleaders as the popular girls, so on and so forth. Although this book did have a lot of cliche moments involving the social circles of high school, I did enjoy the twist of almost all of the characters representing someone from the King Arthur timeline. I loved how Will had a lot of the same characteristics and values as King Arthur, how Lance sort of represented Lancelot, how Morton was Merlin, and especially how Ellie was given qualities of both Elaine of Castolat and the Lady of Shallot but ended up being neither. All in all cool idea but all high school movies are kind of the same in the end. This book kind of had "Sky High" vibes.

Not bad at all

While some of this novel was difficult to get through considering it was written for young teens (I must admit I was unable to finish it), there were a lot of details I still really enjoyed. Firstly, I enjoyed the title of the book/ high school; Before this class, I never would have known what it meant, but now that I know that Avalon represents the place in which Arthur returns, I can now appreciate it. I also liked Ellie's own opinion of her being named after the Elaine; the fact that she finds her to have been a weak female character really felt relatable to me since I felt the same way. Cabot did a great job of showing the realistic modernization of aspects of the stories we have read. 

High School Arthur

I found it very interesting how this version of an Arthurian tale is unlike any other that we have read in the way that it is not directly retelling a story of King Arthur. Meg Cabot focuses on the future life of King Arthur through the demonstration of reincarnation. While we have learned about the possible beliefs of King Arthur coming back to life, it wasn’t presented through 21^st century high schoolers.

The rise of King Arthur is hard to believe it’s actually real, yet Cabot was able to make a unique connection of Arthurian tales to today’s world, addressing the reincarnation of Arthur and other characters. She even stretched some thoughts, such as how the Lady of the Lake was never said to have made an appearance like she did in this reading. In this reading, the Lady of the Lake became a strong and meaningful position that saved “the darkness” from taking over. “But there’s no getting around the fact that you are, indeed, the reincarnation of the Lady of the Lake. It was she who gave Arthur the weapon that he used to defend himself and the realm. And only she could have kept his friendship with Lancelot and Guinevere from splintering leaving him vulnerable to attack from his mortal enemy” (Cabot, 277).

Side note: this reading made me think of Percy Jackson and how there are so many people within a school with secrets filled with such power and importance.

So This Is How A YA Novel Reads

Avalon High was a cute but strange read for me. I never read any "young adult" novels when I was in middle school or high school, so I had no clue what this was going to be like.
Every chapter of the book has a piece of the original "Lady of Shallot" at the beginning. Do you think that the excerpts were actually helpful in piecing together what was going on in the story, or was it just kind of there?

Discussion Questions: Avalon High

What are some of the parallels between Will's character in Avalon High, and Arthur from what we know from previous readings?

What chivalric qualities does Will display that remind us of Arthur?

Character Connections

Okay, so I thought this book was a fun read that took the characters of Arthurian legend out of their normal setting, but I thought that the different connections to the characters was somewhat interesting. Starting with the main man Will, it took a while until it was revealed that his first name was Arthur. I thought that this was a peculiar choice since we always see Lancelot's name being held from the audience, not Arthur's. Lance on the other hand was the easiest to identify. He was a character that did not really have the charismatic energy we are used to seeing Lancelot have. Lance was just a watered down Lancelot that was only present in helping Will on the football field and canoodling with Jennifer. Another character that stood out was Mr. Morton. By the end of the book the characters pieced together that "Morton and Merlin" were connected (287). I thought this comparison was kind of a stretch. Yes, Mr. Morton was in that position to help and guide Will, but that did not really occur until the end of the book. I thought that this was strange, considering how much of an impact Merlin had on Arthur's life. Overall, I think that these characters molded to the story quite nicely and made the reading enjoyable.

A Very Cute Read

I absolutely adored this reading. I literally read it all in one day because I was so invested in the lives of these teenagers. It reminded me so much of the things I used to read when I was 14-15 and I was honestly super happy to be back in that world again. Much simpler times. Though often it was a bit cringe, I really enjoyed this take on Arthurian legend. I also had no idea it was based in Anne Arundel County (where I grew up and currently live). It was a pleasant surprise for me to be able to feel like I could physically see the story unfolding before my eyes, because I’ve been to the places it has talked about so many times. I will add I think this was extremely well written for a younger audience. It was full of clever little tid-bits that made me “ohhhhhhh” at some parts (Elaine floating in the pool that was the “lake”… I mean wow)! The stories we read in class tend to be a bit heavier and dark, but this was a nice, light, airy feel to King Arthur that I think many people might prefer. This reading really focused on how Modred (Marco) was involved in all of this and I appreciated that, because I feel like he is often in the background of our minds but never explored in depth. All in all, a nice read and a clever take on Arthurian legend.

(I ship them so hard, btw.)

Who really is Elle?

Obviously, we went into the book knowing that it was another story of King Arthur. While you were reading it was there any points in the book that you did not believe that Elaine was Lady of Shallot and was a different character from the mythic tales? Who did you think they were and what gave you that inclination? 

Character Switch

"I love my parents and all, but why did they have to name me after someone so pathetic? The only thing my namesake and I had remotely in common was a mutual love of floating... although I preferred to do mine on a raft in a pool, whereas Elaine of Astolat favored floating to her death in a boat..." (133)

With the "floating" comparison starting from the very first chapter, I thought for sure some tragedy would befall Ellie by the end of the book. However, she persisted in not being like Elaine of Astolat. She became a hero of sorts and flipped which character she represented in the Arthur parallel. Even though Ellie doubted that any of it was true, she stayed loyal to her friend. Which is more than can be said for other Arthurian characters.

The story was cute, if teenagery, and the author brought some hope to an otherwise tragic story.