This month's book reviews

A young actor of today performs
in Shakespeare's London of 1599

Nat Field in only fourteen. As a gifted young actor, he has been chosen to travel to modern London with a small group of other talented young actors to perform in the rebuilt Globe Theater. On arrival in London, Nat comes down with a mysterious fever. He wakes up from his illness to discover that he is now among young actors from the Lord Chamberlain's Men of 400 years earlier. Luckily, they are performing plays with which Nat is already familiar. The players accept his strange speech and manners without too much surprise, because Nat has been "loaned" to them from another acting group. A young playwright named William Shakespeare takes Nat under his wing and talks to him about new plays that he is planning to write.

Nat has to get ready to perform on stage before audiences that are quite different from those in the 20th century. Meanwhile, he has to be adjusting to a 16th century lifestyle. The food is totally different. The only eating utensil is a knife that is carried with you at all times. The main drink is something called ale, which is like a sour, weak beer. The water is unsafe to drink. People do not take baths or brush their teeth. There are no sewers. Sewage and garbage is simply thrown out the windows and washed down the edge of the streets when it rains. So the smells of old London are a shock to a boy from modern times.

Nat is thrilled to be part of how the original Shakespearean plays were performed. He is especially thrilled to be able to speak to William Shakespeare himself. On the other hand, he is homesick for the home he left behind in modern America. Will he ever be able to make it home? What will happen to him if he has to go back to the group that "loaned" him to the Lord Chamberlain's Men? They will know he is an imposter.

Whether you like Shakespeare's writing or not, you will find "King of Shadows" by Susan cooper an exciting historical novel.

 

An orphan boy tries to find a home
for himself and his little brother

Twelve-year-old Tree lives in an orphanage with his brother, Acorn, who is a couple of years younger. They had lived in the St. Paul Orphanage since their parents had died in a fire when Tree was just three years old. After years of the boys' longing to be in a real home with a real family, finally, a farmer and his wife show up to take Tree to live on their farm. They agree to try him for a year before they decide whether or not to adopt him. Mr. Gunderson, the farmer, refuses Tree's request to take Acorn along with them. Mrs. Gunderson seems disappointed, but her husband says there is room for only one boy. Besides, Tree, at twelve, is barely big enough to do all the work that is needed for a boy living on their farm. Acorn is just too small.

Tree hates to leave his younger brother. He hopes, though, that he can work hard enough and please the Gundersons, so that they will send for Acorn before the year is out. He is really worried about Acorn, because Acorn has a tendency to get in trouble and run away from the orphanage every chance he gets. Little as he is, he has learned to hop trains and travel away from the orphanage before he is caught and brought back. Tree gets Acorn to promise to wait and not run away until he hears from his older brother.

Once on the farm, Tree finds out that Mr. Gunderson demands a lot of hard work. He never seems satisfied with anything Tree does and is always criticizing the boy. On the other hand, Tree likes having his own room, and the food Mrs. Gunderson sets on the table is better than anything he has eaten in his life. He also likes Mr. Gunderson's younger brother, Jake, who has his own little house, but works on the farm everyday.

When Mr. Gunderson gets angry at something Tree has done and threatens to send him back to the orphanage, Jake takes Tree to live with him in his house. While Tree is trying to make himself a part of the family and seems to be failing at it, Acorn suddenly shows up. He has run away to join his brother. What can the two boys do to keep from going back?

The story takes place on a North Dakota farm in 1926. A reader finds out what it was like to live on a farm when modern farm machinery was just starting to become available. It was a hard life even under the best of circumstances. As a reader, you will become involved in the two boys' problems and hope that somehow things will turn out for the best.

 

Too Many Secrets

Chad Weldon lives with his father, who spends much of his time after work rehearsing for the plays in which he acts. When Chad's mother died his great aunt Elsa moved in to take care of him and his dad. Chad loves his Aunt Elsa, but he would like to see more of his father. Chad is bored and lonely.

Jeannie, Chad's only friend in the neighborhood, makes money by babysitting. So Chad is excited when he gets a chance to earn some money by taking care of a neighbor's big lazy dog, named Benson, and a talking parrot. The neighbor, Miss Beane, has been hospitalized after falling in her home. There is some talk that she fell when she was frightened by a burglar.

The plot thickens when Chad and Jeanie are in Miss Beanes's, checking on the pets, when they hear footsteps in another part of the house. Whoever it is escapes through a window before they can identify him. Their main suspect is an older boy who lives behind Miss Beane's house. But they need to catch him in the act before they can prove he is the burglar. They decide to take turns watching the house.

It turns out that their main suspect claims to be just watching the house himself and trying to protect his elderly neighbor's property. Things get a lot more complicated and even dangerous for Chad and Jeannie before the kids finally find out who the burglar is and what he is looking for.

If you like mysteries, this book keeps you involved with a little suspense and a few laughs. It's short and easy to read.

 

A twelve-year-old genius goes to war
with the secretive "little people"
who live beneath the earth

Artemis Fowl is the only surviving child of a long line of international criminals. His family has been robbing and stealing around the world for hundreds of years. Artemis wants to pull off a job that is greater than anything his ancestors could have imagined. He's going to rob the fairies, elves, leprechauns, trolls, etc. who live underground of a billion dollars worth of gold. He knows that he has a brilliant criminal mind. In addition, he has a couple of devoted servants who are from a family that has served Fowls for many generations. And, finally, a little book that contains all the fairy secrets has come into his possession. Artemis is confident that he can pull off the greatest theft of the millennium.

Artemis's basic plan is to kidnap a fairy and hold him or her for ransom. He knows that the fairies who rule under the earth will do anything to keep from been discovered by the humans who inhabit the earth's surface. What Artemis doesn't know is that the fairies have a technologically advanced society and weapons that are beyond his imagination. When the underground people begin to fight back, Artemis, arrogant as he is, begins to think that maybe he has taken on more than he can handle.

"Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer is a story that keeps you amazed as it moves from incident to incident. Because Artemis Fowl is a crook, you don't know whether to root for him or for the fairies that he is trying to rob of their gold. In addition to all the action in the story, there is plenty to keep you laughing as you wait for the next scene to unfold.

 

Number two book and movie in the popular series is "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"

Many of us read "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" when it first came out. We may want to read it again now that the movie based on the book is being released. In this second book, Harry is just completing his summer vacation after spending one year at Hogwarts, the school for wizards. His vacation has been miserable because of the way the Dursley's, his muggle relatives, treat him. His fat and lazy cousin, Dudley, and his Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia treat orphaned Harry like Cinderella's stepmother and stepsisters treated her in the fairy tale.

Harry can't wait to get back to school. He is surprised when a strange elf, named Dobby, suddenly appears and warns him to not return to Hogwarts because it will be dangerous for him. To his amazement and relief, however, his schoolmate Ron Weasley, along with older twin brothers, Fred and George, show up in a magic flying car to take him home with them.

So Harry is getting ready to return for his second year of wizard school along with the Weasley kids who are Hogwarts students also. The all go to the wizard market to buy books and supplies for school. Strangely, Harry and Ron are unable to board the special train back to school in the usual way. Ron has to "borrow" his father's magic car again so that he and Harry can make it to Hogwarts on time. Their crash into the Whomping Willow outside of the school makes for a dramatic return. Harry begins his second year by getting in trouble before classes even begin.

Mysterious things begin to happen in the school. Kids are frightened and even attacked by some kind of monstrous creature. The rumor is that the creature is coming from a "Chamber of Secrets" hidden beneath the ancient school building. Most of the plot centers on Harry and his friends trying to discover the Chamber and do away with the deadly creature, whatever it is. We find out eventually that the evil wizard, Lord Voldemort, Harry's mortal enemy, is behind it all.

Of course, the story includes quidditch action and visits to Hagrid, the gentle almost giant, that wants to be Harry's protector. Headmaster Dumbledore is there along with Professors McGonagall and Snape. A new character is Professor Gilroy Lockhart, who is conceited beyond belief. To Harry's discomfort, his overly smart girlfriend, Hermione, thinks Lockhart is wonderful.

The book seemed even better on a second reading two years later than it did the first time around. The movie ought to be great!