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Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Avalon High... oh High School
First off, I love this book so much. I have read it multiple time before and I have been looking forward to reading it since I found out it was on our reading list for the semester. I love the way this book is written, its really funny and interacts with the reader. The character of Ellie is wonderful; she is very easy to relate to; she is a regular high school just like I was. She feels like her crush on the hottest, most popular guy in school is a waste of her time. In a way I love the way that Cabot works the cliche in a wonderful light. There's the quarterback dating the cheerleader. He has a dysfunctional home life and finds relief in hanging out with new girl. It is so typically high school or rather the high school we find in novels. I really love Will, he is my perfect Arthur. He's nice and strong and a great leader. The defends the weak and supports the strong and still finds time to be a smart guy. I have always loved the character of Lance and his romance with Jen. I feel like this book is the reason the "real" Lancelot was so heartbreaking and hard to deal with for me. If I had not been exposed to Lance I would have felt different about Lancelot. Will and Ellie make me remember the beginning of my relationship with my fiancé in high school, the way she thinks about him and talks about him makes me smile and remember how good that part of high school. Ellie and Will are exactly what every high school couple aspires to be and I can't let go of high school me when I read this book and it adds so much to the memories.
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Avalon High was my first introduction to Arthur as well and that's why the Lady of the Lake received such a big picture on my influence map in the beginning!
ReplyDeleteyeah i put the manga cover on mine since i did look into those since they continue the story of Avalon High
DeleteThis is the first time I'm reading the book, so I suppose I wouldn't be as attached to it. However, despite all of the cliches and weird descriptions like comparing Will's eyes to a perfect chlorine pool I enjoyed it. Will is a perfect King Arthur with just the right amount of dysfunction.
ReplyDeleteI liked this reading because it seemed more modern and made me enjoy reading about the "typical high school life" kind of era. All of our readings have been from a much older time period so this was nice to read and discuss in class. This was my first time reading Avalon High but I had seen the Disney Movie before and it kind of made me nervous to read the book considering that make of the the movie wasn't my favorite. I enjoyed the reading and I especially enjoyed Wills character being that he really is a normal kid and has flaws but yet still depicts a great King Arthur.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your thoughts and feelings about Will. If this book did anything right, Meg Cabot really managed to capture all of the qualities you would want in a king and was able to relate them to a high school teenager in today's society.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Eric on this one. There is a lot that bothers me in this book but I think the portrayal of Will as Arthur was pretty great. The qualities he possess may be unreasonable to expect from a teenager but he bears it well and it's easy to see him growing into a great man. He may already by a leader and champion for the weak but Will is definitely an Arthur-in-progress. Which is okay since he's only eighteen years old.
ReplyDeleteI actually really loved this book too, and am glad that I'm not alone! I give Cabot a lot of credit for telling the story of Arthur (if a very watered down version) to a younger audience. If I had read this, it would have made the legends easier for me to understand in middle school.
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