Book Review: The Shakespeare Stealer

Main Characters:
1.Widge
2.Dr. Bright
3.Simon Bass
4.Falconer
5.Sander
6.Nick
7.Julian (Julia)

Major Characters:
1.Mistress MacGregor
2.Mr. Armin
3.Beeston
4.Mr. Shakespeare
5.Samuel
6.James
7.Mr. Phillips
8.Jack
9.Mr. Pope
10.Mr. Heminges

Setting
“The Shakespeare Stealer” takes place mainly in Old England.


Problem
The problem of the story is that Widge is commanded by two “evil” masters that want to steal the Shakespeare plays in shorthand. One is

Resolution
Widge doesn’t steal the play, he is caught, “joins” the play and Falconer wounds him for a punishment: not copying the play down. He is even given a part in the play too!

Structure:

Beginning
Widge is an orphan: a dead mother and an unknown father. He is cared by Mistress MacGregor. He soon finds a master that teaches him shorthand. Simon Bass comes to claim him as his apprentice. They reach Simon’s house and Widge heads for London to find Falconer, his new master. Then, Widge finds Falconer and he tells him to copy down the play. Widge is distracted and didn’t do it whole. Falconer tells him to do it again backstage and he was caught and put in the “play group”.

Middle
Widge meets Nick, the play “bully.” He calls Widge “horse” as a nickname. Later, he meets Sander, a smart and funny character. Widge meets many people in the middle because he is in the play. Later then he meets Julian, a girl named Julia in disguise. Widge is given a job of whispering a line to a person if they forget it. Falconer wounds him because he hadn’t copied it yet. Then Mr. Armin blocks the bleeding and he starts sword-fighting with Julian.

End
Widge doesn’t copy the script down and discovers that Julian is a girl, not a boy so he names her Julia. Nick gets really mad and is almost killed by a student and then Nick tries to steal the play book, himself! Nick “false-wounds” Widge: his sheep’s blood bag was broken. Nick ran away and Mr. Armin gets wounded by Falconer in a sword-fight under the gash of his arm. Mr. Armin dies of bleeding. Julia disguises herself as a serving maid and boards a boat that carried her to sea.

Active Reader Report
1.One prediction I made was that Julian was a girl when she was wounded.
2.Here’s something I didn’t understand: the hard vocabulary words.
3.Here’s what I did to try to solve my problem: I looked them up and then I understood them more.
4.As I read, I got a good picture of Mr. Shakespeare’s face when Widge said, “I don’t ken. A wight wi’ long, dark hair and a pointy beard.”
5.Here’s something I figured out that the author didn’t tell me: that Mr. Shakespeare’s first name was William.
6.Here’s a connection I mad between something in the text and something in my own life or in another text: I was in a play before: the Aristocat’s play!
7.Something I’m still wondering about after reading this text: where did Julia go at sea?