King of Shadows

Rating:
Summary: A moving time slip story with a career twist.
Review: Nat Field's talent for acting has led him to a coveted position in a theater; but one night Nat wakes up in the 16th century and finds his acting skills put to the test. His associations with Shakespeare and his newfound lessons in acting blend with his struggles to return home in this moving time slip story with a career twist.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Shakesperean time-travel fantasy
Review: Nat Field, an actor in the American Company of Boys, goes to London with the troupe to play the role of Puck in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at the new Globe Theatre. Suddenly, he is transported back in time to 1599 London and finds himself portraying Puck at the original Globe. Not only that, he's performing with Will Shakespeare himself, who is playing Oberon! The author brings the sights, sounds and smells of Elizabethan London to life and takes us behind the scenes of the Bard's own production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream." After reading this, you'll probably want to read the play and see a performance yourself. Susan Cooper, who was a student of J.R.R. Tolkien, is an outstanding writer and storyteller. Don't miss her magnum opus, the five-book "The Dark Is Rising" series.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Shakesperean time-travel fantasy
Review: Nat Field, an actor in the American Company of Boys, goes to London with the troupe to play the role of Puck in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at the new Globe Theatre. Suddenly, he is transported back in time to 1599 London and finds himself portraying Puck at the original Globe. Not only that, he's performing with Will Shakespeare himself, who is playing Oberon! The author brings the sights, sounds and smells of Elizabethan London to life and takes us behind the scenes of the Bard's own production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream." After reading this, you'll probably want to read the play and see a performance yourself. Susan Cooper, who was a student of J.R.R. Tolkien, is an outstanding writer and storyteller. Don't miss her magnum opus, the five-book "The Dark Is Rising" series.

Rating:
Summary: I LOVE THIS BOOK!
Review: ok,im in 8th grade and me and my bud are doing a report over this book and Ive ALWAYS wanted to travel to London but after I read this I became so into Shakespear,His plays,and even more into London.I loved this book and if you are into Britain and England all together then you will most likely love this book. well i have to run! lotz of luv,kayla

Rating:
Summary: A masterful blend of the past, present, and future.
Review: Susan Cooper has done an incredible job weaving together a plot that skillfully blends the present with the past. One is left with a warm and glowing feeling as the relationship with young Nat and Will Shakespeare grows. The author draws together the finely detailed past of the Global Theatre of 1599, slipping in key passages from Shakespeare's plays and sonnets, thus creating a feeling of traveling back to Elizabethean time. After reading King of Shadows, Shakespeare becomes more than a mere legendary name---he becomes a heartfelt, loving poet and playwrite, a father figure to Nat, and an inspiration to all those eager to enter the theatre, or just sit back and enjoy one of Shakespeare's timeless classics. As a beginning writer of young-adult fiction and an avid reader of children's literature, I am predicting a Newberry Award winner here!

Rating:
Summary: A GREAT book for children 10 and up!!
Review: The book is about young Nat Field. He is playing Puck in a Midsummer Night's Dream. When he goes to bed ill, he is transported back 400 years. (...) I was very pleased with this book. I highly recommend it for girls or boys.

Rating:
Summary: Thoughts on King of Shadows . . .
Review: This an extemely well written and well developed story. The plot leaves you with so much to think about: the growing relation between Nat (the main character) and Shakespeare (hopefully you know who that is!), and many other things left unsettled. I, a thirteen-year-old girl who is addicted to reading, am always looking for a good, thought-provoking, sometimes humorous, and "real" (not some cheap-o series with 100 pages each about some teenager losing her boyfriend) book, and King of Shadows meets and exceeds my requirements. If you like sience-fiction, or books about ordinary kids in not-so-ordinary situations, e.g. transported back in time, then READ THIS BOOK. Madeline L'Engle fans will love this too.

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Summary: DUDE WAT A TOTALLY AWESOME BOOK!!!!
Review: this book is awesome! it's about nathan field, or nat, an orphan from greenville, north carolina who gets picked to be in the company of boys, a theater group of the most talented young actors in the country who will perform plays at the new globe in london, just like the way shakespeare did. then nat, one of the best actors in the group, comes down with a case of the bubonic plague, and ends up in the 15th century and performing with shakespeare! will nat learn to get over his parent's death and find his way back to the 21th century, and then work up the courage to cope with this sudden change? will he find a way to make amends with an enemy? will he fit in? will he survive? read this exciting, action-filled book to find out!

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Summary: Such a amazing book!
Review: This book is by far a book that once u start u will never want to put down. I read this for a summer reading book and i thought it would be junk. Was it far from it! I dont even like plays much, but this book will put a spell over you and u will feel like you are there in Elizbethean times with Nat Field as he becomes the Nat Field of 1599. The ending puts it all together in an eerie way that you will want to read more about Nat Field.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: This book is incredible. Susan Cooper is one of those special authors who can take a plot and weave a story with many different threads going off in different directions, seemingly unconnected, only to bind them all together in one knot at the end that leaves you completely satisfied and with a wonderful feeling of wholeness. The story of Nat Field sent back into Shakespearean times with a special mission, who meets the Bard himself, leaves you with a new outlook on life and really makes you think. I highly recommend this book for any lover of Shakespearean drama or, in fact, anyone who loves a good story to sit down with on a cold, rainy day.