Guinevere: On The Eve of Legend by Cheryl Carpinello

Guinevere: On the Eve of Legend

Guinevere Trilogy Book One

Tales & Legends

by Cheryl Carpinello.

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Princess Guinevere dreaded her upcoming thirteenth birthday. It signaled the beginning of her official role as the Lady of her father’s Castle.

No more adventures in the forest with Cedwyn. No more explorations outside the castle walls. No more excitement. No more danger. No more fun.

Cedwyn, her companion for as long as she remembered, viewed her circumstances differently.

A Medieval coming-of-age story relevant today.

Bonus materials:

Included at the back of the book: a) The short story Guardian of a Princess, the story of how Guinevere gets her horse. b) More about the King Arthur Legend. c) Glossary of unfamiliar terms. d) Questions for Discussion and Enrichment. e) A Personal note from the Author.

Separate activity packet for use in the classroom, for homeschooling, for just plain fun!

A Word from the Author

The idea for Guinevere: On the Eve of Legend actually came out of my teaching career and, more specifically, from my students. For nearly twenty years I taught the legend of King Arthur in my 9^th and 11^th English classes. Every year, I would ask my students in each grade what they knew about the Legend of King Arthur. They would tell me about Arthur pulling the sword out of the stone, about Merlin raising and guiding him, about the deeds of the Knights of the Round Table, and about Lancelot who was Arthur’s friend. When I asked what they knew about Guinevere, year after year, I got the same answer: She married Arthur. She cheated on him with Lancelot. She caused the downfall of Camelot. Their comments about Guinevere continued to amaze me up to my retirement.

During my last year of teaching, I started to formulate an idea for a book about Guinevere. Not the married, cheating Guinevere of my students. No, I decided that there had to be more to Guinevere than that. And that was the Guinevere I wanted to write about. That was the Guinevere that I wanted to introduce to young readers. A girl like any other young girl. One who thinks more with her heart than with her head.

(Cheryl Carpinelllo, 2021)