SONG OF THE SPARROW

In this Arthurian historical-romance, teenaged Elaine of Ascolat (best known as Tennyson’s “Lady of Shalott”) grows out of her accustomed role as war-camp mascot by saving Arthur’s army from a Saxon ambush at Badon Hill, turning the hostile Gwynivere into a friend and finally getting over her own infatuation with Lancelot—hooking up with Tristan instead. By the end, she’s even cut back on fretting about her looks. Sandell writes in seldom-elevated free verse, spurs the plot with trite devices—a never-identified British spy so-conveniently debriefs right outside the tent where Elaine and Gwynivere are being held captive by Saxons—then closes with a term-paperish rehash of the Arthurian Legend’s history, and a reading list. Readers fond of tales about hunky, boyish men and the women who give their lives meaning may enjoy this reworking, but it’s only empty calories next to Gerald Morris’s far smarter and wittier takes. (Fiction. 12-15)