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1st out of 25 books
—
18 voters
King of Shadows
by
Susan Cooper (Goodreads Author)
WHAT'S NAT DOING IN SHAKESPEARE'S TIME? Only in the world of the theater can Nat Field find an escape from the tragedies that have shadowed his young life. So he is thrilled when he is chosen to join an American drama troupe traveling to London to perform "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in a new replica of the famous Globe theater.
Shortly after arriving in England, Nat goes to...more
Shortly after arriving in England, Nat goes to...more
Paperback, 192 pages
Published
May 31st 2005
by Aladdin Paperbacks
(first published January 1st 1999)
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Nathan Field is a talented young actor who throws himself heart and soul into the theater to escape the tragedies that haunt his young life. He is chosen as part of The Company of Boys to go act in the restored Globe as the plays were performed in Shakespeare's day, and he is thrilled at the chance to do what he loves. Soon after he arrives in London, he goes to bed ill and wakes up in Elizabethan England to act in Shakespeare's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream- and to find a father figur...more
This is excerpted from a review I wrote for the now-defunct Riverbank Review.
Susan Cooper, who won the Newbery Medal for The Grey King (of the Dark Is Rising sequence) has full control of her magic. In King of Shadows (the title of the book comes from Midsummer Night’s Dream) she shows that she understands the magic of the theater; how a group of people in an enclosed space can make the impossible happen. In this splendid novel for young people, she has translated this understanding into a ravis...more
Susan Cooper, who won the Newbery Medal for The Grey King (of the Dark Is Rising sequence) has full control of her magic. In King of Shadows (the title of the book comes from Midsummer Night’s Dream) she shows that she understands the magic of the theater; how a group of people in an enclosed space can make the impossible happen. In this splendid novel for young people, she has translated this understanding into a ravis...more
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I had to read this for school.
I'm not saying it was a terrible book, but I don't really think it was worth my time.
If I hadn't been assigned it for school and if half my grade hadn't depended on it, I would never have picked it up. It was a book for a twelve-year-old, not a high school student.
It had an awesome storyline, good characters and a great ending, but it just lacked addictability. I fell asleep reading it.
Maybe its because our teacher forced us to read it and said 50% of our grade depe...more
I'm not saying it was a terrible book, but I don't really think it was worth my time.
If I hadn't been assigned it for school and if half my grade hadn't depended on it, I would never have picked it up. It was a book for a twelve-year-old, not a high school student.
It had an awesome storyline, good characters and a great ending, but it just lacked addictability. I fell asleep reading it.
Maybe its because our teacher forced us to read it and said 50% of our grade depe...more
The title of the book I read was King of Shadows the author of the book was Susan Cooper. The Main character of the book is Nat Field. This story takes place in the 1990s in London ,England. The Main conflict of this book is Nat tries to forget his past and the present keeps reminding him about the past. Nat field goes on his way as an actor into a life in bed.
Nat Field is a boy around 12-14 years old. Both of his parents have died. His mother died from cancer, and his dad was murdered and he s...more
Nat Field is a boy around 12-14 years old. Both of his parents have died. His mother died from cancer, and his dad was murdered and he s...more
Oh this is good.
The protagonist, Nat Field, is a young actor who has come over to play at the Globe with his company. Somehow he goes to bed feeling ill and then wakes up in Shakespearean England. With Shakespeare. The rest of the novel is concerned with his adventures in this time period and also what happens when he returns to his 'normal' life.
And like I said, it's very very good. There's a heartrending moment when Nat almost falls in love with Shakespeare and Cooper conveys this hero worshi...more
The protagonist, Nat Field, is a young actor who has come over to play at the Globe with his company. Somehow he goes to bed feeling ill and then wakes up in Shakespearean England. With Shakespeare. The rest of the novel is concerned with his adventures in this time period and also what happens when he returns to his 'normal' life.
And like I said, it's very very good. There's a heartrending moment when Nat almost falls in love with Shakespeare and Cooper conveys this hero worshi...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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A compelling novel from one of my favorite YA authors. Nat Field, a member of an American drama troupe preparing to perform A Midsummer Night's Dream at the new Globe theatre, travels back in time to the original Globe of Shakespeare's time.
Rich in detail, from the acting exercises of the modern company to the performances of the Elizabethan theatre. Well-drawn characters populate both time periods. A good choice for YA readers who are interested in Shakespeare, acting, or history.
Subject matte...more
Rich in detail, from the acting exercises of the modern company to the performances of the Elizabethan theatre. Well-drawn characters populate both time periods. A good choice for YA readers who are interested in Shakespeare, acting, or history.
Subject matte...more
Nat Field is one of the two dozen in the American Company of Boys, all of them actors under the age of eighteen and all of them hand picked by producer and director Arby to travel to London to put on two of Shakespeare’s plays at the newly reconstructed Globe theater in 1999. Nat is excited when they arrive in England. He just wishes Arby wasn’t so driven and didn’t drive his actors so hard. But the night before he’s set to debut as Puck in "A Midsummer's Night Dream" disaster strikes. He gets s...more
I just reread this for the 5th Grade Book Club at work. And other than being caught off guard by a swear uttered in the first ten pages (hope no parents get on me about that!) "King of Shadows" was just as amazing as I remembered it. In both this book, and her novel "Victory", Susan Cooper has used time travel as a marvelously transcendent plot device which serves a much greater purpose than simply providing an exchange program of astral proportions. Nat Field is a strong, sympathetic lead, and...more
This book is about a boy named Nat who was an orphan and lived with his aunt. It was tough for him to not have his parents on his side and give him the support that he needed. Fortunately, Nat was chosen to perform at Shakespeare's Globe; an amazing theater, that was his goal from the start. His talent is acting, he loves it and he always looks forward to practice and act all the time. He was bullied because everyone thought that anything that has to do with drama, acting, or the theater was sup...more
Feb 15, 2012
Alison
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
confident-readers-chapter-books
Susan Cooper is an extraordinary writer. She evokes 20th Century London and Shakespearean London: the smells, food and cruelty both to people and animals, the danger and hints at political intrigue.
This is the story of two Nat Fields, one from South Carolina in 1999, one from London in 1599, both boy actors, who through a time slip switch places. Modern Nat is a deeply unhappy boy, who wakes up in 1599 ready to play Puck opposite Shakespeare as Oberon, on the request of Elizabeth 1. 1599 Nat is...more
This is the story of two Nat Fields, one from South Carolina in 1999, one from London in 1599, both boy actors, who through a time slip switch places. Modern Nat is a deeply unhappy boy, who wakes up in 1599 ready to play Puck opposite Shakespeare as Oberon, on the request of Elizabeth 1. 1599 Nat is...more
Being a Shakespeare fan since I was nine, I am a big fan of this book. I wish I could have read it back in my grade school days when I couldn't get enough Shakespeare stories, but I didn't understand the original plays very well. It is a great intro in to the world of Shakespeare and early drama.
My biggest complaint with the book is that it has a dumb title. I keep forgetting it because it doesn't make a clear enough connection to Shakespeare for me. Maybe the obscure title is so that kids aren...more
My biggest complaint with the book is that it has a dumb title. I keep forgetting it because it doesn't make a clear enough connection to Shakespeare for me. Maybe the obscure title is so that kids aren...more
I'm inclined to be supportive of Susan Cooper at the moment, after 'The Dark is Rising' got so thoroughly screwed over, movie-wise. In this, a present-day child actor trades places with his Shakespearian equivalent (how is never quite satisfactorily explained), in order to save Shakespeare from dying of the Plague, thus ensuring that he'll survive to write his great plays. You see the paradox there. If Shakespeare had originally died prior to writing his great plays & how would anyone know t...more
This is a fun fantasy fulfillment book for any youngsters that fancy themselves thespians. A young man falls asleep in modern-day London only to wake up back in Shakespeare's day.
The book has a lot of interesting detail about what life really might have been like back then and it has a lot of detail about Shakespeare and his players that a theater fan will find interesting.
The temporal transplacement is artfully handled and the story hangs together on several levels. Yet, it felt a bit artific...more
The book has a lot of interesting detail about what life really might have been like back then and it has a lot of detail about Shakespeare and his players that a theater fan will find interesting.
The temporal transplacement is artfully handled and the story hangs together on several levels. Yet, it felt a bit artific...more
A young actor, Nat, is chosen to be a part of an all boy acting company with a very talented director. Children and men from all over America are rounded up to recreate Shakespearean plays as Shakespeare would have directed them himself. They are to perform in the famous Globe theater in London. However, there is a much deeper story. Nat is recently orphaned and still dealing with his loss. Strange things begin to happen and Nat finds himself right in the center of Elizabethan times and face-to-...more
Susan Cooper is one of my favorite intermediate authors. I loved the Bogart books. This is an interesting tale of time travel-a young modern day Shakespearean actor who trades places with one working witht he master himself. Sadly her brings the plague to modern-day London and has everyone confused. Shakespeare helps his guest from the future come to grips with the death of his father. Eventually both boys return to thier correct time in history. But the question remains-are other members of the...more
The new Globe Theatre in London was opened in 1997. (I've been there. We saw Vanessa Redgrave rehearsing the part of Prospero in The Tempest. I would have cheerfully offered up one of my vital organs for a chance to see the performance.) This book was published in 1999. I see that it is not available on the Globe's online shop, but if it isn't for sale in the gift shop itself then the Globe is doing a disservice to both itself and Miss Cooper. King of Shadows is a heartfelt love letter to The Gl...more
This is honestly one of my favorite juvenile fiction books. Deep, down inside, I know the real reason for loving it is because I always thought it would be cool to jump back in time. That is exactly what Nat Field does. From the moment he is swept back into Shakespeare's time, the reader is also swept away, following Nat's every move and gasping at Nat's every encounter.
Author Susan Cooper includes many references to Shakespearean plays. So if you enjoy Shakespeare, you will definitely understa...more
Author Susan Cooper includes many references to Shakespearean plays. So if you enjoy Shakespeare, you will definitely understa...more
SPOILERS ON THE HORIZON
There's an unfortunate lack of comprehensive one-star reviews of King of Shadows on Goodreads, something I hope this review will remedy.
In King of Shadows, Susan Cooper riffs off the legend of the only British playwright people seem to know anything about, William Shakespeare. We're first introduced to promising teen actor Nat Field, who's travelling with his troupe for a Shakespeare performance in the modern-day Globe Theatre. Ah, how original. Apparently Mme. Cooper atte...more
There's an unfortunate lack of comprehensive one-star reviews of King of Shadows on Goodreads, something I hope this review will remedy.
In King of Shadows, Susan Cooper riffs off the legend of the only British playwright people seem to know anything about, William Shakespeare. We're first introduced to promising teen actor Nat Field, who's travelling with his troupe for a Shakespeare performance in the modern-day Globe Theatre. Ah, how original. Apparently Mme. Cooper atte...more
Nathan Fields, who goes by Nat, is a member of a group of boys in a summer Shakespearian program. The boys go the england to perform in the Glob theater. HOWever, Nat gets instead an incredibly unique once in a life time experience. This book helps kids to experience Shakespeare in an entirely new way.
I found this book to be on that was very good. It is clearly a book for younger readers but i was still able to enjoy reading it and to me that is the mark of a good book. Susan Cooper was able t...more
I found this book to be on that was very good. It is clearly a book for younger readers but i was still able to enjoy reading it and to me that is the mark of a good book. Susan Cooper was able t...more
Jan 17, 2010
Maggie Hargrave
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
juvenile-childrens,
sci-fi-fantasy
This was a fun light book surprisingly about time travel. I didn't read the back blurb and was wondering how the plot would thicken from a boy rehearsing Shakespeare when he is suddenly transported to 1599 and begins to rehearse Shakespeare with the Bard himself. There was a surprising about of history and literature, but at a younger level so readers can understand (and possibly want to read more).
Although the protagonist is a boy, I'm not sure how many boys would pick up a book about drama and...more
Although the protagonist is a boy, I'm not sure how many boys would pick up a book about drama and...more
I loved this, but can fairly give three stars. My reasons: Susan Cooper is just so incredible, and I'd rather rate her against her Dark Is Rising series here. So, on a scale of 1-5 in Cooper-tastic ness, three. Three and a half. ;) Magic abounds here. I love Cooper's turn of a word; she makes the craft of writing seem easy and elegant, without spoiling the effect of an 11-year old narrator. There's a bit of borrowing from Shakespeare in Love (?)(although a re-imagining of the Bard is not new to...more
I had read this book years ago and decided that my good memory of it was worth going back and trying it again. I was right. This is one extremely well researched, thought out, and written book.
Nat Field is a young actor recruited by a somewhat mysterious man named Arby to play Puck in Arby's version of "A Midsummer Night's Dream". The company of actors are all boys aged 11-18. They will play in the brand-new reproduction of Shakespeare's Globe. Just before the play opens Nat falls ill. He is tak...more
Nat Field is a young actor recruited by a somewhat mysterious man named Arby to play Puck in Arby's version of "A Midsummer Night's Dream". The company of actors are all boys aged 11-18. They will play in the brand-new reproduction of Shakespeare's Globe. Just before the play opens Nat falls ill. He is tak...more
King of Shadows is a quick read—something to be enjoyed in an afternoon. Cooper seems to work too hard to create enough tragedy to warrant present-day's Nat Field's attachment and devotion to Shakespeare. The story is told from present day Nat's point of view which at times works better than others. The narrative style goes from focused, erudite and detail oriented to abruptly chit-chatty, switching from first to second person. These transitions jar the narrative flow. The story is strongest in...more
King of Shadows by Susan Cooper is a young-adult time-travel novel. Nat Fields is a grieving boy whose only solace is acting. His young theater troupe travels to London to give a special performance. While there, one morning Nat wakes up to find himself in 1599, an apprentice at the Globe, expected to perform with William Shakespeare himself. Good thing Nat is so very talented.
This novel is infused with a passionate love of Shakespearean plays and Tudorian theater that is hard to dislike. Kind a...more
This novel is infused with a passionate love of Shakespearean plays and Tudorian theater that is hard to dislike. Kind a...more
I'm immensely fond of Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising Sequence and I also love and adore Shakespeare, particularly Midsummer Night's Dream so when I ran across this one in a recent visit to the children's room at my local library I had to grab it.
This is a very cool time travel book about a young boy who journeys back to Shakespeare's time and performs as Puck at The Globe Theatre. It is full of great period detail about theatre at the time and tells a lovely story of a boy who finds his escap...more
This is a very cool time travel book about a young boy who journeys back to Shakespeare's time and performs as Puck at The Globe Theatre. It is full of great period detail about theatre at the time and tells a lovely story of a boy who finds his escap...more
We're doing Macbeth in class right now, and a student was so excited to share this book that he read for class in 8th grade. It was fun to take a trip back to juvenile lit where the world is still basically a safe place (albeit riddled with bullies and misunderstandings). I'm glad to know this book is out there, because it's a fun introduction to Shakespeare's plays, and also gives a good sense of the Elizabethan theater and time period.
Nat Field is excited to be part of an all-boy company of actors who are performing A Midsummer Night's Dream in the newly rebuilt Globe Theater in London. Nat goes to bed one night feeling ill, and wakes up in 1599 in London. He is a boy actor on loan to the Chamberlain's Men, Shakespeare's company. He plays Puck for Shakespeare himself and learns to love his new world, but he must accept that he will not be able to remain forever.
This YA book was recommended by one of my students, and it was worth the time invested. The whole time travel plot line stretched a little thin, but I loved, loved, loved the backstage view of the Globe Theater and Elizabethan England. Nice weaving in of historical details, the feel of that time period, and the beauty of Shakespeare's language. Makes me want to watch one of my favorite movies again--Shakespeare in Love.
I enjoyed the discussions of the theater process, both modern and historical, and the layers of complexity in Nat's life. I had trouble fully buying into the fantasy, time travel aspects - too many unanswered questions for me. Some adult terminology (a character looking "high") seemed out of place for young readers. Also, why introduce a love story near the very end with no real reason for it or build up to it?
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quotes | 2 | 12 | Jun 26, 2011 10:46am | |
| KING OF SHADOW? PLZ ANSWER ASAP! | 4 | 45 | Mar 22, 2011 08:47am |
Susan Cooper was born in 1935, and grew up in England's Buckinghamshire, an area that was green countryside then but has since become part of Greater London. As a child, she loved to read, as did her younger brother, who also became a writer. After attending Oxford, where she became the first woman to ever edit that university's newspaper, Cooper worked as a reporter and feature writer for London'...more
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