That Shakespeare Kid

by Michael Lomonico

Overview

Middle school students Emma and Peter are assigned Act I of Romeo and Juliet to read for homework. Peter wants to get a better copy than his tattered paperback. So he climbs up onto a chair in his mother's study to retrieve her heavy Riverside Shakespeare. Just as he tugs on it, the chair moves and the book hits him on the head. When Peter regains consciousness, he can speak only in lines from Shakespeare. So instead of saying a simple "hello," he might say something like, "How dost thou?" or instead of a simple "goodbye" he might say, "Parting is such sweet sorrow."

Emma Malcolm narrates this appealing young adult fantasy. She describes herself and her neighbor Peter Marlowe as "happy nerds." Yet when Peter suddenly becomes unable to speak modern English, everything changes. As hard as Peter tries to speak for himself, his words come out as Shakespeare's own. His strange speech irritates Emma at the school bus stop and embarrasses her in the baseball stadium. He is sent to the principal and the school psychologist for acting up-no one seems to realize that Peter would cheerfully speak modern English if only he could. Luckily, he understands contemporary English despite being unable to speak it. His family believes that he is faking, at least at first. Emma thinks so, too, but she soon realizes that he cannot help himself. However, when he discovers that he can text and instant message in modern English, Emma becomes his translator.

English is Peter's favorite class, and Ms. Hastings is his favorite teacher. Ms. Hastings decides to guide the class even further into Shakespeare's world. She determines to help them put on the 30-Minute version of Romeo and Juliet. Peter and Emma will be the leads, the play's star-crossed lovers-after all, Romeo and Juliet were about their age. Emma has never kissed a boy, and she realizes that she is about to experience her first kiss in front of the whole school.

While the play is in the rehearsal stage, a newspaper reporter interviews Peter and his parents, and the resulting article makes Peter a local celebrity. Then a classmate makes a video of Peter speaking Shakespeare's words and it goes viral. Peter and Emma are invited to appear on the Today Show. Peter greets America with the words, "Fair thoughts and happy hours attend on you." Appearing on the show turns out to be more exciting than expected, especially when the interview ends with a romantic surprise for Emma. Finally, it is time for the play to begin. The leading actors perform their scenes flawlessly, and at last they kiss. Romeo and Juliet turns out to have a plot twist, at least for Peter and Emma.

This engaging comedy introduces Shakespeare's language gracefully, making it part of a light and charming fantasy about language and first love.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781489598226
Publisher:	CreateSpace Publishing
Publication date:	10/22/2013
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	162
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.37(d)

About the Author

Michael LoMonico's goal is to change the way that Shakespeare is taught in schools.

He has taught Shakespeare to many eager teachers and to quite a few intimidated students. His experiences have taught him that every student, whatever his or her degree of education, needs to be introduced to Shakespeare's language gently.

Michael is currently the Senior Consultant on National Education for the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC. His books include The Shakespeare Book of Lists, Shakespeare 101, and That Shakespeare Kid.

He was an assistant to the editor for the curriculum section of all three volumes of the Folger's Shakespeare Set Free series, published by Washington Square Press. He was also the technical editor of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Shakespeare

He has taught Shakespeare courses and workshops for students and teachers in thirty-six states, in Canada and England, and digitally in South Africa and Russia. After teaching high school English for thirty-three years he brought his expertise to future teachers at Stony Brook University.

Editorial Reviews

2013-12-26
In this debut YA novel, the Bard of Avon's words become commonplace when a 12-year-old boy can't stop speaking them. Emma Malcolm narrates the tale of how her best friend and fellow nerd, Peter Marlowe, was hit on the head with a copy of The Riverside Shakespeare and suffered a minor concussion along with other, much stranger symptoms. Once in the ambulance with Emma, he greets the EMTs with the comment, "For this relief, much thanks," followed by, "Alack, what noise is this?" From then on, he responds to everything with relevant quotes from all of Shakespeare's works. He doesn't understand why this has happened to him; he doesn't even know anything about Shakespeare. Only in his English class, where he and Emma are preparing to perform scenes from Romeo and Juliet, are his quotes appreciated. His English teacher has been encouraging the students to become more familiar with Shakespearean language, also known as Early Modern English, so that they can relate to the universal and very contemporary themes and plots. But most people, particularly his peers, are not impressed, and they now find Peter even odder than they already did. Fortunately, he's able to text in conventional English, so Emma becomes his translator and constant companion. Conveniently, she's to play Juliet to his Romeo in the class production. Concerned and frustrated by his inability to communicate, Peter and his parents schedule appointments with various specialists, but once the media gets wind of Peter's affliction, he becomes newsworthy, culminating in an appearance with Matt Lauer and Al Roker on The Today Show. The story reaches a happy conclusion that features an unconvincing middle school romance. The book serves as an effective portal for early teens to become comfortable with the archaic, Shakespearean language, and the author pulls off a clever ploy by placing all quotes in context—" ‘Are you ready for some English?' Ms. Hastings sang (in the same way they used to start Monday Night Football)." As such, readers should have no problem understanding unfamiliar words and phrases. In the endnotes, all the quotes are identified and cited, making the entire book a useful teaching tool. An engaging, fanciful tale of a boy who inadvertently brings the beauty and majesty of Shakespeare into everyone's lives.

Kirkus Reviews