Idris and the Knights. Book II

Idris and the Knights is a book to make young people think about race and gender roles. It has a female hero making her way into unfamiliar surroundings where she meets and interacts with several different people with radically different personalities and views about the world. It is set in the fictional kingdom of Alonia; a mountainous region of medieval Europe where old ideas are strictly adhered to and new ones are viewed with suspicion.

The entire tale recounts the ups and downs of Idris’ battle to become a knight; it is split into three parts. Each book comes as a PDF document which can be displayed on an interactive board so that it can be used as a class reader or printed off to be read to the class. Each book also has a Powerpoint presentation that contains open ended questions for each chapter. This is included in the hope that discussion will show that the world is not a place where black and white answers are usual, especially when dealing with interpersonal relationships or personal perspectives when dealing with tricky situations.

Book II. Sir Beaufort, Sir Kipalot, Sir Vainglorious & Sir Edward de Pencil shows Idris making some real progress although she becomes aware of some dissention amongst the knights. A particularly unpleasant knight, Sir Cular, is revealed to be a misogynistic bully. He feels that he can do anything he wants and he delights in ridiculing some of his fellow knights. Idris becomes attached to Sir Beaufort who is the main focus of Sir Cular’s disgusting sense of humour. From Sir Beaufort Idris learns that knowledge and innovation are powerful weapons. She also goes through training with two other knights, Sir Kipalot who shows all the signs of having to live with neurodiversity and Sir Vainglorious, a man who hides his talents and his personal feelings behind a tangled web of implausible stories. Her final tutor in this book is Sir Edward de Pencil, a man who openly admits that he doesn’t know how to deal with ‘brown people’ because they are so different. In the end, Idris helps this particular knight to overcome his prejudices and they develop a touching friendship.

The story continues in Book III. Idris and the Knights. Sir Cular, Sir Ne’er-do-well & Sir Candy-floss.