E ARC from Netgalley

Guinevere and Arthur get along quite well, practicing their fighting and trying to stay out of the way of the knights who terrorize the peasants they are trying to help. They are young, and Arthur's position is precarious, but they care for each other deeply. In modern times, Sophie and Stu hang out together and are big fans of a video game where they must defeat the evil Morgana. However, Stu's step brother Lucas has gotten Stu to try out for the soccer team, and Sophie feels him slipping away from her. When Guinevere and Arthur accidentally lose a very important sword from Merlin's collection right before a big tournament, Merlin has to use his powers to get the weapon back, and this includes sending Sophie a computer code that makes her travel back in time! When Arthur gets pulled to the present, and Stu goes back to impersonate Arthur and pulls the sword from the stone while under a glamor to look like him, things get oddly complicated. Add to this the trouble the kids have with their romances (Arthur Googles himself in the present day and finds out about Guinevere's relationship with Lancelot, which doesn't make him happy!), and the precarious situation that time travel and changing the course of history puts them in, and this is a harrowing twist on the Arthurian cycle.
Strengths: Camelot and Arthurian legend is always popular, and this is an interesting cyber twist, sort of like VandeVelde's 2002 Heir Apparent series. Since that is falling to bits, I should get this as a replacement and weed that. Fiction involving video/computer games can date fairly quickly. Fun story, and my hard core fantasy fans will love it.
Weaknesses: The love interests, combined with the time travel, made this a little confusing and slow in the middle for me, but I think my students won't feel that way.
What I really think: I like this author's Gamer Girl (which I've had for almost ten years!), and she clearly has some gaming chops. I'd love to see her write a book about students and video games only in the modern world. I'll buy this one, but it will circulate primarily to students who love Arthurian legends and fantasy.

Sophie and Stu have been best friends since elementary school. These two have bonded over the Camelot's Honor video game. Now in junior high school things might be changing a little. Stu has signed up for soccer because he wants his father to pay as much attention to him as he pays to Stu's stepbrother Luke. Sophie is a little jealous and wondering if she's going to lose her best friend. She's already lost her mother who told her one night that she had to leave to save the world.

Meanwhile in Camelot, Arthur who is being tutored by Merlin is on the verge of pulling the sword from the stone and having his future changed. He and Guinevere have formed an unlikely but strong friendship since princesses and dishwashers don't usually hang around together. When Guinevere accidentally drops a magical scabbard into the Well of Dreams, Arthur takes the blame and falls into it to try to get the scabbard back.

Arthur, however, likes it in the modern day and, having read his life story on Google, isn't eager to return to his own time. As the world changes around Sophie - no pepperoni pizza, no Camelot's Honor, and no Stu, she has to do all she can to get Arthur back where he belongs.

This is a great combination of middle school life with changing friendships and video games and time travel including a society of people who are determined to keep time on the correct track. There's magic and dangerous deeds aplenty. It is also the first book in a series.

I have read so many versions of Camelot and King Arthur with so many adaptations and new twists to the tale as we know and this book ranks in the top of what I read so far. I am a huge fan of time travel stories and the mischief they all get themselves into changing the test of time. This book reminded me of a Disney movie that came out in the 1990's called A Kid in King Arthur's Court and this book reminded me a lot of that movie so it was refreshing to recollect memories of that movie. Very enticing to the point that it will pull you in immediately and not want to stop reading.

Thank you Netgalley and Disney Book Group for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. We will definitely consider adding this title to our JFiction collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

This was a FAST read for me! I was given the opportunity to review it yesterday, and I inhaled the whole thing last night. This is such a sweet, fun book, reminiscent of Rick Riordan. We've seen this story played out before, but Mancusi manages to refresh it, make it unique and delightful. There are many tongue-in-cheek parallels drawn, and the Arthurian legend we all know and love gets a fun facelift. I recommend this one, especially to younger readers who might not be ready for Riordan yet. Special thanks to Disney-Hyperion and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review!

Sophie and Stu are best friends who enjoy playing a video game called Camelot's Honor. Things change when suddenly Sophie is called back to medieval times and is needed to help Arthur be crowned king. Through a series of events Sophie and Stu time travel and team up with Merlin, Arthur, and Guinevere to make everything right.
This is the first in a new series, highly appropriate for ages 10 and up. This is a fun take on a well-known legend that focuses on the boy Arthur. Filled with sports, good friends, a little romance, magic and a sibling rivalry like no other. This book grabs your attention from the first page and continues to the end. I would recommend this book for anyone interested in history, knights, or sports. Very fun and engaging.

Have you ever wanted to step into your favorite video game? What if you could? What if you did? That is precisely what happens to Sophie and Stu when they discover that not only is their video game based the on Arthurian legend, but they have been playing with Merlin himself!
Things get more complicated when Arthur unwittingly travels to the 21st century, putting history as we know it (and pepperoni pizza) at risk. Can Sophie convince him to return to his own time?
This fun, fast paced, adventure is full of Medieval characters from the legend of King Arthur. Kids who enjoy sword fighting with a bit of teen drama will surely enjoy this book and the gamer references feel authentic. The characters are not terribly complicated but the action should keep readers glued to their seats.

This book covered a lot of ground in a short time. The story starts out with two kids playing a "Camelot" online game. The only thing Sophie wants to do is beat this game but her friend wants to see if there is more to life than just video games. Little does Sophie life is about to change when she receives a .special code for her online game. next scene the readers is transported to England before it it was united by King Arthur. Arthur dreams of being a knight one day but his life is about to change too. Loved the modern take of King Arthur. Would recommend this book to persons who love historical fiction, gaming, and non-stop action.

This was a straight forward, all nonsense, full novel to read. The characters were easy to relate to, fun to follow, and given individuality that gave them their own voices. The settings, both medieval and modern, were well rounded and explored nicely. I loved the humor throughout this book, but enjoyed the heart as well. There were life lessons throughout the story that were not forced upon the reader, but instead, woven perfectly into the writing. The gaming aspect is a great way to hook in modern children and a neat way to incorporate the Arthur legends. Although it might not be an entirely original idea, this story is definitely unique and I look forward to recommending it to readers in the future.

Please watch my video review of the book here: https://youtu.be/mwEwQTEQ3fM

A BIG thank you to Disney Hyperion and Netgalley for providing an ebook ARC copy of this book. This book was amazing! I loved reading every minute of it. The story is fast paced and has a lot happening to all the characters, so there’s never a dull moment. It has adventure, fantasy, romance, humor, video games, and even history trivia making it so entertaining! I have become a fan of Mari Mancusi and cannot wait to read her other novels after this. Overall, this is one of my favorite reads of 2018 and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is wanting to read a light-hearted adventure/fantasy novel.

P.S. I apologize for butchering Guinevere’s name in the video 🤐

This middle grade novel tells the entertaining story of what happens when legendary King Arthur (only 12 years old in this book) time travels to the 21st century and googles himself, thereby discovering the hardships and betrayals he will someday face. Naturally, he decides to stay in the 21st century to avoid the trials and tribulations of his medieval life. It’s up to Sophie and Stu (12 year olds from the 21st century) to save the day (or die trying!).

I was a little hard on this book initially because I couldn’t stop comparing it to a certain YA juggernaut (who may or may not write about gods and goddesses and their half-mortal children). This book does not reach the same polished, epic heights as those books, but it’s super entertaining nonetheless. And this book is middle grade, not YA, so it’s really not fair to compare them.

We see lots of traditional Arthurian characters make delightful appearances (Guinevere, Merlin, Mogana, Kay, and a brief passing-by of Lancelot). The author weaves Arthurian legend into the story pretty seamlessly and authentically - I even learned a thing or two I hadn’t know before.

The story itself jumps around between a couple different character’s points-of-view but it wasn’t really ever confusing. Parallels drawn between characters were interesting at times, and felt a little forced or in-your-face/unnecessary at other times. Keeping in mind the target audience, though, I think it was well done overall.

This appears to be the first book in a series. I’m sure kids in the target audience who enjoy the King Arthur legend will love this book/series. However, I’m not sure it will cross as easily into other audiences like the aforementioned YA series has. But, again, that’s not really a fair comparison, just my own thought.

This was somewhere between 3.75 and 4 stars for me. Entertaining and well-written for the middle grade audience, but not something I couldn’t put down. Also, as a bonus, the cover art is beautiful! It’s what first drew me to this book, and I would even consider buying this just because of how pretty it is.

*Thank you to Netgalley and Disney Hyperion for providing me with a free advance review copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. This review is posted on GoodReads, my Facebook profile, and will be posted to retailer sites such as Amazon once the book is released.*

Everyone knows the story of king arthur...besdies arthur himself. That is untill he fall into the 21st centey and googles himself which, as you can imagine, can be horryfying. It will take two tween computer nerds, some geekery, and a famous wizard to set this right. I recomend it for anything who loves king arthur with a little twist.