When blacksmith’s daughter Gwen, a talented metalworker in her own right, joins the annual jousting tournament as “Sir Gawain,” she only hopes to prove to herself that she’s as skilled as any male knight. Enter bold, clever Lady Isobelle, whose hand in marriage has been promised to whomever wins. Recognizing Gawain’s sword as the same one she’d seen Gwen with at the market, Isobelle approaches Gwen with a proposal: Gwen can train and live at the castle for the duration of the tournament, posing as imaginary Sir Gawain’s sister, Céline. If she wins the tournament, she’ll save Isobelle from a disastrous marriage to a cruel man. (It doesn’t hurt that the two girls are falling in love.) Under Isobelle’s wing, and with the help of Isobelle’s jack-of-all-trades lady’s maid, Olivia, Gwen undergoes a crash course in etiquette and enters Isobelle’s social scene, all while juggling multiple identities and putting in hours of training in sword fighting and jousting—which will undoubtedly come in handy when the populace learns that dragons are not, as previously believed, completely extinct. There’s much more to this medieval fantasy than sweet Sapphic romance; notably, the story’s feminist sensibilities extend to all of the women in the well-developed cast, who find they are most powerful when pooling their strengths. Purposefully anachronistic language adds a delightful layer of humor and accessibility. (Age 13 and older)