Journal Entry 1 by bookrabbit from Wilmington, Massachusetts USA on Friday, March 17, 2006

Registering for the race to 3 million challenge

Book Description:
Tiffany's informative account of Shakespeare and his world weaves fact and fiction in a historically accurate setting. The colorful tale starts when young Will discovers the beauty of the written word not in the airless schoolroom where he spends his days copying Latin phrases, but in his Uncle Edward's library. He reads voraciously and learns much about the world from the books and from the perilous climate of religious intolerance. As events continue, he weds Anne Hathaway, and they have three children. He yearns to be a playwright, and his restlessness compels him to journey to London where he meets Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson, and other famous contemporaries, all of whom influence his work. As he gains fame, he misses his family in Stratford, but his passion for the world of the stage overwhelms familial desires. This novel, by the author of My Father Had a Daughter(Berkley, 2003), which is about Judith Shakespeare, gives readers a wonderfully intimate view of day-to-day life in Shakespeare's England. Historical details, such as references to the plague and to fickle Queen Elizabeth, all help make this novel come alive. Teens will enjoy the brisk pace, colorful characters, and conflicts and successes in the life of this literary giant.(School Library Journal)

Fiction