A Couple of April Fools

The Hamlet Chronicles #6

by Gregory Maguire, Elaine Clayton (Illustrator)

It's April Fool's Day, and the rival girls' and boys' clubs of Miss Earth's class are each eager to come up with a good practical joke. But pranks soon lose their appeal when the students' beloved teacher goes missing. Has the mysterious creature lurking in the woods made a meal of Miss Earth? Is her fiance, the esteemed Mayor Grass, somehow responsible? The students know the clock is ticking -- they have to find her before time runs out.

Genres: Childrens, Fiction

Paperback

First published May 24, 2004

About the author

Gregory Maguire is an American author, whose novels are revisionist retellings of children's stories (such as L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz into Wicked). He received his Ph.D. in English and American Literature from Tufts University, and his B.A. from the State University of New York at Albany. He was a professor and co-director at the Simmons College Center for the Study of Children's Literature from 1979-1985. In 1987 he co-founded Children's Literature New England (a non-profit educational charity).

Maguire has served as artist-in-residence at the Blue Mountain Center, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and the Hambidge Center. He lives in Concord, Massachusetts.

Reviews

[Jen (The Jenerator) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute...interesting ending.

[Hemant Bharwaney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. It was ok.

I enjoyed how it related to reality but I think it was confusing because you din't know whether it was fantasy or reality.

Don't get me wrong, but I think it is kind of strange to mix characters like fire-breathing mutant chickens with stereotypical school boys and girls.

During the beginning, I'm not sure whether the mutant chicken was a metaphor, so I'm going to say it was slightly confusing.

Overall, though, it was a fun and comedic book.

[Tracey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Children's fiction. I was disappointed by this Gregory Maguire book aimed at kids. It attempts to meld Maguire's fairytale-fantasyworld with that of the Wayside School Kids, and succeeds only in boring the reader. Bleah.

[Rick Stuckwisch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best book yet in the Hamlet Chronicles. Can't wait for the conclusion.