I Am Mordred (Silver)

Mordred is the nephew and son of King Arthur, by his half-sister Morgause. Conceived in sin, Mordred is fated to kill his father and king. As a threat to the throne and his holy office, Arthur sets the newborn child adrift on the sea, hoping death will follow quickly. Yet the infant Mordred survives. Coming of age, he travels to Camelot to become a Knight of the Round Table for a king who can never recognise him as his son. But Arthur is a good king - wise, generous to his subjects and to those loyal to him - and, torn between these facets of his father's nature, Mordred finds the courage for his quest: to turn back the tides of what is to come by finding those with the power - Morgan le Fay and the lost Merlin himself - to change fate. But despite his noble intentions, Mordred succeeds only in triggering a string of betrayals that ends at Hastings, where the soul-dead son finally confronts and kills his father...

King Arthur has fascinated young people for centuries, and since fantasy literature has become a passion for so many bright teens, a whole body of writing has developed that reimagines Arthurian stories in ways that make them psychologically relevant today--without losing the magical resonance of Camelot. In I Am Mordred, Nancy Springer, known both for her fantasy writing and the realistic novel Toughing It, brings the central father-son conflict of the Arthurian saga vividly alive. Teen fantasy fans will be familiar with the background events: the young King Arthur, unaware, bedded his half sister Morgause and conceived the child Mordred, who according to the wizard Merlin, was fated to destroy his father and the kingdom. Goaded by Merlin, Arthur attempted to have the baby killed, but was foiled by the intervention of the good sorceress Nyneve and the evil sorceress Morgan le Fay. Years later Mordred arrives at Camelot and becomes a knight of the Round Table. Springer focuses on Mordred at age 15, as he struggles against his destined fate of killing the king and father he both loves and hates. In an adventure story festooned with the golden bells of enchantment, Mordred undertakes a quest in the Forest Perilous to save Arthur's life and his own soul, but ultimately fails. Springer brings the story to a moving and ingenious conclusion in which the prophecy is fulfilled--and simultaneously overcome. (Ages 12 and older) --Patty Campbell