SHAKESPEARE'S SECRET

Narrator Jennifer Ikeda tackles a misfit, those who bully her, and a wise, old neighbor with grace and charm. Twelve-year-old Hero is not only wrestling with her name, gleaned from Shakespeare's MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, but also with a new town and a new school. She feels like she's a nothing, and Ikeda touches the listener with her poignant inner monologue--or is it truly soliloquy? Mrs. Ross, the elderly neighbor, is especially well done in a patient grandmotherly tone. Inviting and entertaining from beginning to end, this tale--which also involves a missing diamond--provides insights on bullying and a history lesson on the Elizabethan Age as well. D.L.M. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/ MAR 06]