Saving Hamlet

Gr 7 Up—With her short new haircut and black clothes, Emma is ready to put her soccer days behind her and join the ranks of theater geeks as stage manager for her high school's student-directed production of Hamlet. However, when her best friend Lulu loses the lead to inexperienced soccer star Josh, problems begin. Already feeling vulnerable after her parents ground her for kissing a girl, Lulu snaps when Emma starts coaching Josh and then breaks off their friendship. Even worse, Emma discovers that Brandon, her crush, is gay, so her romantic prospects seem doomed. Perspective comes when Emma falls through an onstage trapdoor, traveling back in time to Elizabethan England, where she becomes assistant bookkeeper to Master Wick during a Globe Theatre performance of Hamlet. Seeing Shakespeare himself in action, she learns much about stagecraft and the true meaning of the play, knowledge that helps her salvage her school's and the Globe's productions and clarifies her romantic feelings. The well-paced narrative should have wide appeal for teen thespians. Although the initial premise seems a bit far-fetched, the major characters are well drawn and believable. The added time travel layer allows Booth to provide historical and interpretive information about the play, thereby making Shakespeare's poetry comprehensible. Less savory parts of Elizabethan life are included to help Emma realize that, despite her travails, she belongs in modern times.