King of Shadows
by Susan Cooper
How amazing does this sound: A young American boy is chosen to travel to England and act in a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in a replica of the Globe theater.
Now, how amazing does this sound: The young actor falls ill upon his arrival in England, and wakes up amid the original production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream four hundred years ago, with William Shakespeare himself!
If you liked A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (reviewed here on The Rag), you’ll love this. This isn’t just a young adult book; Susan Cooper knows her stuff. This is a fantastic, fun read about Shakespeare, historical England, acting, traveling, and friendship. Go back in time with the protagonist and meet Shakespeare. You won’t regret it.
Here's a sample of Cooper's writing. I love her description of Shakespeare's time:
"Through the crowds, through streets that grew narrower and noisier, full of rougher trade, jostling and cursing. It was the kind of area where you kept a cautious hand on your purse, if you had a purse. Loud, quarrelsome men lurched out of alehouses; women in low-cut dresses leaned out of windows and called softly, or not so softly--indeed some of them came stumbling out into the streets, calling, clutching at men's sleeves. Harry and the rest shouted catcalls at them, and dodged their pinching fingers. Trying to follow Sam, I came face-to-face with one of them, a woman whose dress hung half open, torn. She was not much more than a girl, but her teeth were blackened and uneven, and her breath in my face stunk of garlic and ale and decay. There was an open sore on her cheek, and her eyes were empty, without any expression."
Now, how amazing does this sound: The young actor falls ill upon his arrival in England, and wakes up amid the original production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream four hundred years ago, with William Shakespeare himself!
If you liked A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (reviewed here on The Rag), you’ll love this. This isn’t just a young adult book; Susan Cooper knows her stuff. This is a fantastic, fun read about Shakespeare, historical England, acting, traveling, and friendship. Go back in time with the protagonist and meet Shakespeare. You won’t regret it.
Here's a sample of Cooper's writing. I love her description of Shakespeare's time:
"Through the crowds, through streets that grew narrower and noisier, full of rougher trade, jostling and cursing. It was the kind of area where you kept a cautious hand on your purse, if you had a purse. Loud, quarrelsome men lurched out of alehouses; women in low-cut dresses leaned out of windows and called softly, or not so softly--indeed some of them came stumbling out into the streets, calling, clutching at men's sleeves. Harry and the rest shouted catcalls at them, and dodged their pinching fingers. Trying to follow Sam, I came face-to-face with one of them, a woman whose dress hung half open, torn. She was not much more than a girl, but her teeth were blackened and uneven, and her breath in my face stunk of garlic and ale and decay. There was an open sore on her cheek, and her eyes were empty, without any expression."