AVALON HIGH by Meg Cabot
    Category:  Contemporary
    Age Recommendation:  Grades 6+
    Release Date:  1/1/06
    Publisher:  HarperCollins
    Reviewed by:  Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius"
    Rating:  4 Stars


    You don't have to know and enjoy the legend of King Arthur to fully appreciate AVALON HIGH, but it probably
    helps.  Meg Cabot has taken the legend of Arthur and the main people in his life--Merlin, the magician and guardian
    of young Arthur; the Lady of the Lake, who gave Arthur his magical sword, Excalibur; Guinevere, Arthur's wife and
    Queen; his most esteemed knight, Sir Lancelot; Mordred, Arthur's half-brother; and the elusive Elaine of Astolat, the
    Lady of Shalott--and found them modern-day counterparts within the halls of Avalon High School just outside of
    Washington, D.C.

    Ellie Harrison isn't thrilled with leaving St. Paul, Minnesota, and moving to a new state, and starting a new school,
    while her parents are on sabbatical.  Both her mom and dad are medievalists and professors, and her father has
    dragged the family closer to D.C., where he can study up close and personal the sword he's researching.

    And then Ellie meets Will, the most interesting and good-looking boy she's ever seen.  Sure, he has a girlfriend, the
    very lovely Jennifer, so she resigns herself to just being his friend.  But as time goes on, Ellie realizes that there are
    some very strange similarities between life at Avalon High and the legend of King Arthur.  The events that unfold, such
    as one of the teachers, Mr. Morton, going a little batty, and Will's girlfriend, Jennifer, being secretly in love with his
    best friend, Lance, start to add up to one bizarre scenario.  Could Will be the reincarnation of King Arthur, and could
    something really bad be working its way towards the halls of Avalon High?

    I truly enjoyed AVALON HIGH, but Ms. Cabot's customary humor was strangely missing from the story.  Although
    there are a few slightly humorous spots in the book, the laugh-out-loud wit and sarcasm from her previous releases is
    strangely absent.  Overall, though, lovers of Athurian history or books about good versus evil will thoroughly enjoy
    this latest release.
Avalon High
by Meg Cabot