The Camelot Code--The Once and Future Geek

October 1, 2018

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, Richmond

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2018
Two contemporary gamers find themselves living a real-life fantasy adventure with the future King Arthur and Guinevere even as they navigate rough-water friendships.Twelve-year-old Sophie and her best friend, Stu, play "Camelot's Honor," an online video game based on Arthurian legend. Unknown to them, their third party member is the real wizard Merlin, connected with time-traveling Wi-Fi. Meanwhile, 13-year-old Arthur and Princess Guinevere pal around. One day, instead of pulling a certain sword out of a stone, he falls through a magic well, landing in 21st-century Massachusetts. After he learns his legendary fate with a search on "the Google," he decides to stay and play football, a decision that drastically alters history. The four teens travel through time and face the vengeful sorceress Morgana--but, as Merlin says, "unfortunately in real life there are no do-overs." Mancusi builds suspense well in this series opener. The casual, multiple-perspective narration keeps the characters familiar and approachable for young readers, even within the medieval setting. The ultimate message is muddled, however; dreams of self-determination clash with apparently inevitable destinies. There is some troubling gender treatment: Even though Guinevere can fight, she still needs rescuing and ends up pigeonholed as romantic drama, and the text fails to challenge Arthur's 21st-century pal's obnoxious, anti-feminist declaration that he hopes to "score a dance with a real medieval chick." The book features no characters of color in either timeline, offering a default-white cast. Mancusi sets the stage for future adventures...in the past.A wholesome, modern twist on the classic legend that could provide a gateway for newer readers and fun for the gaming set. (Fantasy. 8-13)

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November 15, 2018
Grades 4-7 Perhaps unsurprisingly, due to her background in television production, Mancusi's (Princesses, Inc., 2017) new middle-grade series is cinematic and epic in scale. Eighth-graders and best friends Sophie and Stu are teammates when they play the popular online role-playing game The Camelot Code. They've fought countless campaigns against the evil Morgana in-game, but when a mysterious stranger sends an actual game code that lets them travel through time to Camelot, they're not prepared for the ramifications of tampering with time. Aided by Merlin, Stu temporarily switches places with young King Arthur, while Sophie tries to unravel the rapidly shifting time line before it's too late. Mancusi packs a delightfully unexpected amount of detail from Arthurian lore into this faced-paced, downright fun novel. Certainly not the first retelling of the King Arthur legend, this start to a promising new series is not only cleverly plotted but also has enough unique elements to elevate it from the rest. Readers will eagerly anticipate the chance to revisit memorable characters in the coming sequels.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)