The Camelot Code: The Once and Future Geek - Hardcover

Mancusi, Mari

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1368010849 ISBN 13: 9781368010849

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2018

Synopsis

When young Arthur of Camelot accidentally time-travels to the 21st century and Googles himself, he discovers the not-so-happily ever after in store for him once he pulls the sword from the stone. Yes, he'll go from squire to sovereign basically overnight, but he'll also lose the love of his life to his best friend and eventually die in battle. What's a once-and-future king to do? Easy: stay in the future, where he'll actually have a future-and join the football team instead.

Now, with the help of the great wizard Merlin, modern-day gamer-geeks Sophie and Stu find themselves in a race against time to get that sword pulled from the stone and the stubborn soon-to-be-king Arthur back to the past where he belongs. Complicating the plan? Lady Morgana-Arthur's sister and greatest enemy-has traveled to the future as well, determined to take Arthur out and seize the throne. Can Sophie and Stu use their gaming abilities to defeat the evil Morgana and set the timeline right? With the very existence of their friendship, their families, and the world as they know it (including pepperoni pizza!) at stake, they'll use every skill, power-up, and cheat code they know in their quest to save the day.</

About this title

About the Author

Mari Mancusi always wanted a dragon as a pet. Unfortunately, the fire insurance premiums proved a bit too large and her house a bit too small, so she chose to write about them instead. As a former Emmy Award-winning TV news producer, she now works as a full-time author, having published over two dozen books for kids, teens, and adults.

When not writing, Mari enjoys traveling, cosplay, watching cheesy (and scary) horror movies, and playing video games. A graduate of Boston University, she lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband, Jacob, daughter, Avalon, and their two dogs. Visit her at marimancusi.com or follow her @marimancusi.

Reviews

Gr 4-7-Middle schooler Sophie and her best friend Stu love the multiplayer video game Camelot's Honor. Along with their online friend Melvin, they have reached almost all of the game's highest levels. Alternating with the modern-day narrative is a parallel storyline featuring a young Arthur, Merlin, and Princess Guinevere. When Guinevere accidentally sends an important artifact to the future, the two stories converge, with Sophie and Stu ending up in the past while Arthur and Guinevere explore the 21st century. Mancusi maintains the structure of the time lines, tying them together as skills learned in life and the game prove valuable to the characters. Although the initial premise is humorous, the novel moves into emotional depth as Stu navigates a new family structure following his father's remarriage, Sophie reconciles her feelings about her mother's disappearance, and Arthur realizes his life may not have a "fairy tale" ending. All of the characters discover unexpected capabilities within themselves as they attempt to defeat the sorceress Morgana and to keep history from imploding. Dashes of romance, bullying, social anxiety, family stresses, commentary on middle school social structure, and bits of history and Arthurian lore all combine to create a thought-provoking adventure story. VERDICT Blending elements of several genres, this story will be appealing to many different types of readers.-Lucinda Snyder Whitehurst, St. Christopher's School, Richmondα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Edition details

• Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1368010849
• ISBN 13: 9781368010849
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352