THE SHAKESPEARE STEALER

Words are ever at play in Gary Blackwood's historical novel. Through twists of fate, circumstance, and companions, Widge, an orphan, comes to learn the art of charactery, a type of shorthand, and then sets out in search of the text of Shakespeare's newly written play, HAMLET. Ron Keith's distinctive British voice transports the listener to Elizabethan England and propels the quest for The Book through the streets, onto the stage, and to its suspenseful conclusion. Through Keith's intonation, modulation, and variation, the story's characters are as rough as the players in rehearsal or as polished as the queen after a "command performance." This book would be a fabulous and enriching listen for middle-grade students as they study a Shakespeare play or Elizabethan England. A.R. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/MAY 01]