The Shakespeare Stealer by Gary Blackwood Date of Publication: 1998 ISBN: 0141305959 Number of Pages: 216

REQUIRED READING ABILITY: High
GENRES: Historical Fiction, Adventure
THEMES: Appearance versus Reality, Good versus Evil, Coming of Age, Loyalty, Family, Friendship

SUMMARY:
Widge is an orphan who, at fourteen, has had his fair share of masters and rough times. As the story begins, Widge is the apprentice of Dr. Bright, an uncaring and harsh master who has taught Widge his unique invention of a shorthand-type writing system as a way of making his own life easier. Suddenly a stranger arrives who quickly bribes Dr. Bright for Widge’s services. Without further ado, Widge finds himself in the hands of the mysterious Falconer, who has taken Widge for a special mission. Widge is to go to London with Falconer and, using his skills, is to surreptitiously copy the entire text of Shakespeare’s new play, Hamlet. He is then to return to his new master, Simon Bass, who plans to use the script to stage his own version with his regional acting group.

Problems arise even before Widge arrives in London, and they get steadily more serious as the story continues. He ends up with no choice but to masquerade as an acting apprentice, and finds himself taken in by the very group he intends to rob. For the first time in his life, however, he begins to see what it means to be part of a family, and becomes especially close to his two new pals, Julian and Sander. Things are seldom what they seem, however, and when Widge sets out to foil the original plan, he finds it will take all of his efforts to survive the experience, and escape the watching Falconer once and for all.

WHO WOULD LOVE THIS BOOK? A kid who...

• likes adventure
• likes stories of orphans finding their places in the world
• is interested in Shakespeare and his times
• is interested in the theatre and acting
• likes stories with swordfighting and robbery
• can handle the odd reference to obsolete or archaic language and dialect

WHAT ELSE?
This story is a great period adventure tale, with lots of action, sword-fights, intrigue, and historical presence. It has won numerous awards, and was an ALA Best Book for Young Adults and an SLJ Best Book of the Year. There are two sequels as well, Shakespeare’s Scribe and Shakespeare’s Spy, and Blackwood has written a number of other historical fiction books for kids on other topics as well.

RELATED LINKS:
Teacher Resources
Drama and Teacher Resources
Shakespeare and Elizabethan Theatre
William Shakespeare

Supplemental Non-Fiction Resource: Shakespeare (Eyewitness Guides)