I'll admit it first thing: I was a King Arthur groupie. Summers were spent at Renaissance festivals, and one year my best friend and I even made medieval dresses for ourselves - and it wasn't even close to Halloween. So coming into this lovely, lovely book which retells the story of Elaine, the Lady of Shalott, I was more than excited. Then I opened the book and saw it was all in verse and I sort of did a little dance around the house. Okay, so it was a big happy dance. In this revised version of The Lady of Shaott, Elaine along with her brothers and father live in the soldiers camp under the direction of Arthur. She has become friend, sister and healer to the men but her only wish is that she could have more female friends. As war progresses, Elaine gets her wish when Lancelot, the love of her life, brings back Gwynivere to be Arthur's bride. But Lancelot is obviously in love with Gwyn and can only see Elaine as a young girl. To make matters worse, Gwyn is utterly beautiful and completely mean and nasty to Elaine. Which I thought was a totally delicious change.Sandell may not have stayed completely true to Tennyson's original poem about Elaine, but this version was more filled with hope for the future. The cadence and smooth flow of events competely had me sucked in from the very beginning. Here's one of my favorite passages: "The warriors gather, but I am not welcome./ Or so Lavaian tells me, hurling / the words like rocks over his shoulder. / Stay here. The meeting is no place for a girl. / Leaving me here, alone, / to wait and wonder. / What will become of us?"Just so dang great. ( )

Retelling of “The Lady of Shalott” by Tennyson that will appeal to fans of Camelot stories. Written in free verse, with much of the characters dialog in italics, so the form of the work may take some readers a bit of getting used to. Ultimately a story about the difference between a crush and true love. Elaine is the narrator and main character, a motherless, littlest sister who follows her father and brothers in Arthur’s camp early in Arthur’s career as he steps up to lead the Britons. Elaine, the camp healer, is a much younger character than Arthur and Lancelot whom she idolizes. Of course, Lancelot is fated to fall in love with Gwynivere (sic) and Elaine is forced to learn the difference between a crush and true love (while also playing a pivotal role in saving Arthur’s troops at one point in the story). Strong female protagonists and an interesting portrayal of Gwynivere, Arthur and Lancelot. ( )

Reviewed by Holly for TeensReadToo.com

Sixteen-year-old Elaine of Ascolat is amazingly beautiful with her long red hair and her soft natural face. Living in an army camp full of all guys, Elaine figures the handsome Lancelot to be her true love. Until her troubles and daydreams get the best of her, when even prettier Gwynivere arrives at the camp and is immediatley drawn to Lancelot - even though she is engaged to Arthur.

Gwynivere's mean remarks but beautiful outer self makes Elaine jealous enough to play a cruel prank on her, but when her friends and family leave her to go fight the Saxons, her heart tells her to pack a bag and go with them to heal the wounded. Shot by arrows and cut by a knife, Elaine gains both friendship and confidence in herself.

This exciting book by Lisa Ann Sandell makes you feel like you are back in olden times, right there fighting with Elaine. This is a VERY well-written book and I recommend it to all. A great read! ( )

This book was written in verse and read incredibly fast. It's full of love, heroics, and adventure. Follows a brief part of the Lady of Ascolat's life during the time in which Arthur first becomes king. ( )

From the start, this book was difficult. The story was formatted as a kind of "verse" or, I suppose, song, which broke up the flow of the story and made it clunky and disjointed. Once used to the style, the story was further marred by characters who were shallow and uninteresting. The story is not a new one, so in reading a story like this, one expects the characters to reach to the depth that is achieved in other similar stories.

Song of the Sparrow is a very interesting idea and an interesting take on the Arthurian tale, but it lacks in depth, in likable and interesting characters, and in a necessary flow that makes the story readable. ( )