William's Midsummer Dreams

Gr 5—7—In this sequel to William S. and the Great Escape (S & S, 2009), the now 13-year-old protagonist is living with his Aunt Fiona and has the opportunity to audition for the part of Puck in a professional production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. William is thrilled when he is chosen and wows his director and fellow cast members, but he has to contend with the son of the Dean of Performing Arts, his understudy who is trying to sabotage him. Clarice, who helped rescue him and his siblings from the awful Baggett family in the previous book, now has a crush on him. And worst of all, the Baggetts return to torment him. Despite all these challenges, William triumphs and as the book concludes, he is planning his next performance in Romeo and Juliet. The story takes place in 1938, but there doesn't seem to be any particular reason for placing it during this time period and, apart from some cursory references to 1930s pop culture, the writing doesn't convey a sense of the setting. The various typefaces used throughout the text, including a bold Gothic typeface for all references to the Bard and quotations from the play, are distracting and often difficult to read. However, the descriptions of rehearsals and backstage activities at the Shakespeare festival are highly entertaining, and readers will be rooting for William to be a theatrical success. A fun read that will appeal to stagestruck readers.—Kathleen E. Gruver, Burlington County Library, Westampton, NJ