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Summary: An Adventure of a Lifetime!
Review: "Kingdom of Shadows" by Susan Cooper is a magical book. It's full of mystery, twists and turns. It's the kind book where it lets you escape the pressures of reality and go into your own world. It's mostly for Shakepeare fans and theater freaks. It also can be for someone who just likes a good adventure that expands the strength of your imagination. I won't reveal too much about the story...I don't want to ruin it for you. In the begining a boy goes to a theater camp to be a part of an acting company. The company practices two of Shakespeare's famous plays, to perform at The Globe Theater in London, England. While on this adventure of a lifetime, he makes some interesting friends...and also enemies. All I have to say is that its a GREAT book. I'd recommend it to anyone.
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Summary: A truly wonderful, wonderful book
Review: A seamless, poignant tale of a young boy's grief, time-travel and William Shakespeare.
Nat, an 11 year old who is orphaned and ridden with hidden grief, is chosen to join a contemporary, Shakespearian theatre group to perform as Puck in A Midsummer's Night Dream at the new Globe Theatre in London.
This journey becomes more than a transatlantic adventure for a budding actor. Nat finds himself plunged into Elizabeathan London 400 years earlier where he has to adjust to life as an apprentice in the original Globe theatre and play Puck with the great actors of the day but most of all meet and be entranced by William Shakespeare himself. Ultimately, this is a story of how a young boy must face his greatest fears and achieve healing under the guiding hand and poetic wisdom of the Bard himself.
Cooper creates a vivd and pungent world of London and does not shirk from the violence and political intrigue that must have existed at the time .
This book is for those of any age who can let their imaginations run easily and let the mastery of the author lead you through a deeply satisyfying and touching experience.
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Summary: Globetrotting
Review: Any novel that introduces the young to the wonders of Shakespeare's plays is worthwhile. Cooper does her level best to convey the excitment and adventure of the plays by transporting a contemporary teenage actor back in time and allowing him to hone his craft under the author himself. Cooper succeeds in glamorizing the craft of acting more than Shakespeare's plays themselves, but bright and adventurous kids should thrill to the tale of Nat Field and his struggles to properly perform "Midsummmer Night's Dream." Maybe one day they'll want to give it a try themselves.
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Summary: And as I am an honest Puck...
Review: From Susan Cooper, award-winning author of The Dark is Rising sequence. This one has a young orphaned American boy, Nat Field, playing Puck in a troupe of boy actors chosen to perform A Midsummer Night's Dream at the replica of the Globe Theatre...and while rehearsing in London, falls back in time to Shakespeare's day, to perform the same part in the original Globe. At the same time, his 16th century double falls forward to present day London, and seems to be suffering from the bubonic plague. Pretty darned sophisticated for a middle school reading level. Engagingly-told in the first person by Nat, we get to hear about the troupe rivalries (both present and past), the excitement and tedium of rehearsals, the incredible high of a performance...and also the sorrows of remembering his father's death, the pleasure of working with Master Shakespeare, and a never-preachy admission of the joy of being a performing artist. Excellent for anyone, kid or grown-up, who's trodden the boards...
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Summary: Bored? READ THIS BOOK!
Review: I found this book extremely absorbing, full of life and wonderful descriptions so realistic you could practicly see the person standing in front of you. This story was hard to understand at points but it all came together in the end as another brilliant Susan Cooper book.
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Summary: Great book Cooper
Review: I love books and i thought this book was extremly well written, and easy enough to follow along without any troubles. And my aunt had the pleasure of meeting Susan Cooper and said that she is a very nice woman. I hope one day i will get to meet the woman who wrote such a wonderful book:)
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Summary: Shakespeare Lives
Review: I read King of Shadows to my eight year-old son. Not only did we enjoy the book, he now is interested in reading more of Shakespeare's work.
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Summary: A Great Read!
Review: I thought this book was great! So much so that I decided to put it on the reading list for my seventh graders. The story offers a lot of historical detail I thought my students would find interesting, especially since we'll be reading a Shakespearean play this year. The main character is of a similar age to my students and although he has different interests from the average seventh grader, the fact that he feels alone and unsure of himself is one that most 13 year olds can relate. We haven't started it yet, but I hope my students give it good reviews, too.
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Summary: The greatest book
Review: I thought this book was really terrific. It's enthrawling topic was very intresting, yet educational. Susan Cooper explains the life living in 1599 so wonderfully, you feel as if you are there. I strongly suggest this book for anyone who is looking for a hair chilling tale or just to learn some fun facts. King of shadows makes Harry Potter look like a nursery rhyme.
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Summary: Not The Best
Review: I was assighned to read this book for school. At first, I was really exited because my friend said that it was really good. The plot seemed to be building up to something in the end. It turned out to end without enough action. KING OF SHADOWS is about this boy actor named Nathan Feilds. He, for a reason that will be revealed in the end, went back in time to 1599. He got switched with another actor with some theater company, also named Nathan Feilds. He was being 'borrowed' by The Chamberlains Men (Shakespeares company) from that theater company, because they didn't have enough actors. You won't really know the reason or quest Nat was supposed to complete until the last few chapters. The ending was cool, but the rest of the book was lacking adventure and action. All in all, I thought that this was a pretty good book, and I think that a lot of people liked it. You should read it and see what you think.
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