Whether because they offer a natural metaphor for coming-of-age audiences transitioning into the adult world, or because—either in cause or effect—they are generally considered most appropriate for the developmental phases and developing psyche of the young adult, the canonized classics of British fantasy traditionally feature young adult protagonists. "The Sword in the Stone," book one of T. H. White's aforementioned The Once and Future King (1965), searches back through history, legend, and the author's own boyhood, to expand the Arthurian legend by contributing the story of Arthur's young adulthood.

Appropriately, White, a teacher of young adults, expands Arthurian legend by describing what the young Wart learned in his lessons with Merlin in order to explain the genius of Wart's later kingship.

But T. H. White is simply one of the more recent authors to artfully and respectfully redefine the traditional parameters of the...