review 1: This book was recently entered and was a gold winner in The Wishing Shelf Book Awards. This is what our young readers thought:FEEDBACKAuthor: Michael J BowlerTitle: Children of the KnightCOVER: 10/10The readers loved the cover. They thought the image of the girl holding the sword was apt for the story and genre and the lettering easy to read. They also enjoyed the blurb, pulling them into the book.CONTENT 10/10Our teenage readers very much enjoyed this story. They loved the central premise of King Arthur returning to present day L.A. and attempting to help forgotten children. The readers liked the fact that the story was a mix of fantasy and adventure but also had a strong moral undertone: that everybody is deserving of a second chance and everybody, even the smallest chi... moreld, should be seen. One reader (girl, 15) put in her feedback, ‘This was a fantastic story. I liked Lance very much. I thought he was different to the normal hero in a book. I really enjoyed following him on his adventure and his friendship with Mark and Jack.’EDITING 9/10The readers thought the book was well edited and discovered no glaring problems with grammar, punctuation or spelling. They did feel the odd paragraph a little difficult to follow but, apart from that. One reader (boy, aged 14) put in his feedback, ‘This story has very good pacing but I still got to know the characters.’STYLE 10/10The readers liked the style of writing. They liked the complex plot the author created and the way he developed the characters in the story. They also liked the balance of adventure and character/setting description. They also felt the author worked well with dialogue although a few of the readers thought it was difficult to always follow what the king was saying in old English. One reader (boy, aged fifteen) put in his feedback, ‘This story was really great. I loved how Arthur saved Lance at the beginning from the three yobs, particularly when he cut Dwayne’s trousers and they fell to the floor. The author got the speech right too. So many writers seem to be frightened of writing rude words in a book for teenagers which is odd as we say them all the time.’TO SUM UP 39/40STATSOf the 28 readers:28 loved the cover.28 would like to read a sequel.14 felt the best part of the book was the clever plot.5 felt the best part of the book was the central premise: King Arthur in L.A.8 thought the pacing was the best part of the book.1 thought Lance was the best part of the book.2 thought the way the king spoke was a little difficult to follow.‘A wonderfully written, exciting story with a powerful moral message. Highly recommended and a GOLD MEDAL WINNER’ The Wishing Shelf Awards review 2: Once upon a time in the City of Angels, chaos was king, and carelessness ruled.So begins Children of the Knight, a heart-tugging new young adult fantasy. The picture the author paints of life on the streets of Los Angeles is brutal, and, I'm afraid, mostly true. I know of children who have been kicked out of their houses in my own small, Northern California town, so I can only imagine how many kids are living on the streets in a big city.But King Arthur comes back to help the children take back the streets; to kick out the pimps and dealers; to renovate whole neighborhoods. Sound a little cheesy and too good to be true? It probably is, but it is a fantasy novel, after all.Although this book is labelled as young adult, there are some pretty strong scenes in it. Child abuse and prostitution are both depicted (although not graphically), as are two death scenes.The strongest theme in Children of the Knight, for me, was the theme of acceptance. Arthur, in the book, in many ways is like Jesus Christ - accepting and encouraging anyone who wants to give up their old way of life to "come, follow me."I found the book to be a little long, but I could not put it down as I waited to see how Arthur's crew would fare in their mission and watched the poignant relationship between Arthur and his "kids of the Round Table." less
