The Shakespeare Stealer

The Shakespeare Stealer by Gary Blackwood

Over Thanksgiving last year, my husband and I went on an 8 day trip to California.  The first three days we spent at Disneyland, running between rides and eating ice cream with the excitement of children.  On day four we drove down to San Diego, where we met up with his family for the rest of the week.  We ate like it was going out of style, attended his little brother's soccer tournament and played games  And I read.  I walked miles each day with my nose in a book and the sun on my skin: I believe that is my definition of contentment.  Or maybe happiness itself.  Whatever it was, I loved it so much that I read the three books I had taken and, with three days left of the trip, we had to go to Barnes and Noble to find something new.  How devastating.  :)  It was there that I picked up Shakespeare Stealer (and two others...reviews to come).  It was also there that I read it (in California, I mean, not in the bookstore).

The Shakespeare Stealer is a clever story about Widge, a boy whose harsh master makes him learn an ingenious shorthand that he (the master) invented.  Though the system is not nearly as great as the master thinks, Widge masters it and becomes the only person who can capably use it.  One day a disfigured man comes and offers the master a handsome sum to buy Widge and take him away at once: suddenly, Widge's whole future has changed. 

Widge is taken to a whole new world, it seems, as he enters London with the very clear directive of transcribing, in its entirety, Hamlet.  Though the new master won't discuss it, it becomes apparent that his hope is to steal the play and make another traveling group of actors rich with it.  But Widge gets caught up in the magic and the beauty of the play, and soon he becomes involved with the actors and escapes his master to learn the art of acting.  He actually has friends, is learning a skill and, for the first time, has a place to call home as he spends each day rehearsing for the upcoming plays.

Of course there is a twist at the end, but that I won't tell you about; why else would you read it? 

My biggest complaint about this book is that I was so worried about Widge!  I found myself reading as quickly as possible, as though turning the pages faster would protect Widge from his new master, who is enraged when he does not have the play after the first performance.  I wouldn't mind rereading for the sake of taking in more of the details (as opposed to having my eyes flit quickly across pages looking for any signs of distress).  Alas, these concerns are petty issues of the reader, not of the book.  :)  It was a fun read; I think boys around sixth grade would enjoy it very much.

(Oh, and what an interesting time to read about!  In spite of it being fictionalized I really enjoyed thinking about living during Shakespeare's time.)