Author: Cheryl Carpinello
Publisher: Outskirts Press, Denver Colorado
ISBN: 978-1-4327-3704-7

 Click Here To Purchase Guinevere: On the Eve of Legend

The stories of King Arthur and the knights of the round table are ones that we all know.   However, we seldom think about the childhood of these famous characters.  While we know all about Arthur and Merlin, what about Guinevere?  She was his queen and his Achilles heel, it was her affair with Lancelot that would destroy Camelot.  She is vital to Arthur’s destiny, but only recently have authors begun to write about what her childhood was like. In Guinevere: On the Eve of a Legend, Cheryl Carpinello writes an enchanting story about an ordinary girl learning to be worthy of becoming the Queen of England.

The author is not simply a Camelot fan who decided to put pen to paper. Carpinello is an high school English teacher who has been teaching about King Arthur and his knights for almost twenty years.  This a children’s book written not only to tell Guinevere’s story but to encourage reluctant readers to work on reading.

The story is about Guinevere’s thirteen Birth Day and even more important, her first meeting with King Arthur, the young man who would be King of all England.  Guinevere is just an ordinary girl at heart.  All she wants to do is run wild and free, hunting with her best friend, Cedwyn.  Of course, her days of freedom are coming to an end.  At the age of thirteen, a girl was expected to cast aside her childishness and learn the duties she must fulfill when she is a woman. 

More was expected of young Guinevere than the average girl.  Her mother is dead and once she is thirteen she must take her place as lady of the house.  As mistress of her father’s castle, she must know about all the housekeeping tasks so she can instruct the servants in their duties.  Also, her father and Merlyn, Arthur’s former tutor, have plans that will take her from her home to Camelot.

Guinevere has her own plans and they often lead to misadventure and mayhem.  Not a naughty child, she is determined to choose her own path, even if it disappoints her father, Merlyn, even the great King Arthur.  Despite her stubbornness, she shows the bravery and courage she will need to become Arthur‘s queen.

Something must happen or the destiny of Camelot will crumble.  With Merlyn’s help and the girl’s own intelligence, she begins to understand there is more to life than having her own way.  Perhaps it is a lesson some of the young readers of this book could learn as well.

Click Here To Purchase Guinevere: On the Eve of Legend