Song of the sparrow / by Lisa Ann Sandell.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Since the days of King Arthur, there have been poems and paintings done in her name. She is the Lady of Shalott, and now there is a new story about her, from an exciting new talent.

The year is 490 AD. Fiery 16-year-old Elaine of Ascolat, the daughter of one of King Arthur's supporters, lives with her father on Arthur's base camp, the sole girl in a militaristic world of men. Elaine's only girl companion is the mysterious Morgan, Arthur's older sister, but Elaine cannot tell Morgan her deepest secret: She is in love with Lancelot, Arthur's second-in-command. However, when yet another girl -- the lovely Gwynivere-- joins their world, Elaine is confronted with startling emotions of jealousy and rivalry. But can her love for Lancelot survive the birth of an empire?

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

Sandell (The Weight of the Sky) invents a unique and eloquently wrought addition to Arthurian lore in 44 verses expressing the sentiments of Lady Elaine, the subject of Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott" and other classical legends. Here, Elaine is cast as a motherless tomboy living in Arthur's encampment with her father and two brothers. Raised amidst soldiers who are like brothers to her, she knows little of what it means to be a woman until her passion is roused by handsome Lancelot. Any hope that Lancelot may some day return her love quickly dissolves with the arrival of beautiful Gwynivere, Arthur's future bride, who immediately steals Lancelot's heart. Elaine despises Gwynivere for her haughty and flirtatious manner ("A gown woven by faeries/ could not disguise her cruel nature," Elaine declares). Gwynivere conveys equal dislike for Elaine, but the two women form a bond in the throes of danger after they are kidnapped and held hostage by invading Saxons. The poetic narrative-a mix of observations, dialogue and laments-evokes a remarkable range (and natural progression) of emotions. Elaine's coming of age encompasses moments of adolescent infatuation, jealousy, grief and sacrifice and an evolution of friendship into mature love as she ultimately relinquishes her feelings for Lancelot and pledges her heart to Tristan. Characterized as unconventional for her time, Elaine encapsulates modern feminist values, proving herself to be as intelligent, determined and loyal as her male companions. Ages 12-up. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

School Library Journal Review

Gr 8 Up-After her mother's murder, Elaine lives with her father and brothers in a British military camp during the time of the Saxon invasions and makes herself useful by mixing potions to cure all manner of ills. As in Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott," she falls in love with Lancelot, but when Gwynivere, King Arthur's betrothed and the daughter of a much-needed ally, arrives, she, too, is enchanted by the beloved knight. Disgusted by Elaine's unmaidenly ways, Gwynivere spurns the girl, overcoming her haughty selfishness only when Elaine's life and Arthur's legions are threatened. The two then work together to help save the army-and the country-from destruction. In this verse novel of flowing, readable prose, Sandell successfully interweaves familiar medieval tales, keeping well-known characters and plot details but reenvisioning the denouement. Descriptive language abounds, and while the vocabulary is sophisticated, most meanings can be gleaned fairly easily from context. The protagonist is fully developed; other characters, however, are less well defined. Both Gwynivere and Lancelot, for instance, have too-rapid changes of heart, and the nicely sewed-up romance between Elaine and Tristan seems a bit pat after the many twists and turns of their earlier emotional travails. Although this reimagining follows the current trend of interjecting strong female characters into classic tales, some might argue that it stretches believability a bit too far to suggest that the Round Table couldn't have survived without Elaine's selflessness. Nevertheless, the adventure and romance will keep many female readers thoroughly captivated.-Nancy Menaldi-Scanlan, LaSalle Academy, Providence, RI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

When Arthur rises to power and his bride-to-be arrives at his military encampment, 16-year-old Elaine, who was raised at the camp, watches in horror as her childhood crush, Lancelot, falls for dazzling Gwynivere. Rivals in love but united in their frustration and despair as the men march toward a decisive battle, the young women participate in a reckless act that gives way to heroism and self-discovery. A somewhat improbable conclusion casts Elaine a character modeled on the Lady of Shalott as more empowered than her tragic counterpart in Alfred Lord Tennyson's familiar poem. The novel's verse form is consistent with the ballads typical of Arthurian source material, although its distilled nature does not always allow for the rich detail and development that many readers seek in historical fiction. Still, the unadorned writing style reflects Sandell's magic-free interpretations, rooting the characters in the bloody business of pre-Camelot power wrangling. Offer this to readers familiar with the lore, who will be most equipped to appreciate Sandell's interweaving of several plot strands and her thoughtful end matter.--Mattson, Jennifer Copyright 2007 Booklist

Horn Book Review

This twenty-first-century feminist re-imagining of the Arthurian Elaine of Ascolat, told in unsubtle verse, reinvents the lovelorn martyr as a (still lovelorn) healer and tomboy whose narrative concludes with heroic deeds and a happy ending. The setting is assiduously historical, but the modern-thinking characters seem occasionally displaced within it. An author's note provides historical context. Reading list. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.

Kirkus Book Review

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) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.