Drawing on Arthurian legend, this young adult adventure weaves fantasy and family lore into a thrilling journey to explore a fabled past and secure the fate of future generations. For centuries, the eldest member of the Defaid family has been keeper of their secrets, and the family’s patriarch, Charles, is unnerved when a heraldic shield is drawn on the fence surrounding their farm. His 12-year-old grandson, Griffin—who is an expert on the Knights of the Round Table and their enemies—suspects the shield may be Morgana’s coat of arms. With Griffin’s brother, Ken, heading to college in the fall, their father hopes the mystery will prompt one last summer family project.

But Griffin is about to face a much bigger challenge. When a magical portal sweeps him into the world of his favorite stories, he learns that he’s destined for greatness, much like the knights he admires. Nothing about his quiet, simple life on the Defaid farm could have prepared him, but the brave and imaginative Griffin immerses himself in this dangerous, secret world, where old foes threaten his family. Teaming up with Ken and other family protectors, Griffin establishes new alliances to fulfill the Defaids’ role in a centuries-old feud, stepping into manhood as he becomes an unlikely hero.

This action-packed magical narrative is the debut of Windsor, the pen name for the father-daughter team Mike and Jennifer Windsor, whose gift for worldbuilding unites distant realms. When Charles reveals that their family bloodline is threatened by “‘evil ones’ who can travel forward in time and space,” the familiar landscape becomes something fantastical, where images of Welsh dragons do not feel out of place. Young readers following Griffin’s transformation in My Name Is Arthur will be introduced to a legend more than a millennium old, but whose code of honor endures as a beacon of moral stability in chaotic times.

Takeaway: A family’s secret legacy unfolds in this thrilling Arthurian adventure.

Comparable Titles: Tracy Deonn’s Legendborn; Kevin Crossley-Holland’s The Arthur Trilogy.

Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: B
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A