Overview
When fifteen-year-old Jared is forced to live with the father he has never met, he joins his father's theatrical troupe during of production of Shakespeare's Richard III. First-time actor Jared must cope by himself with a hostile, competitive half brother who's a television star, until he is befriended by the spirit of an old actor -- a delightful ghost who vows that Jared will become a star as well. The production -- and Jared's performance -- seem charmed . . . but then Jared realizes that he and his brother have begun to enact a real-life tragedy that echoes the plot of Shakespeare's bloody play.Editorials
Children's Literature -
Fifteen-year-old Jared is introduced to his father, his jealous half-brother Tad, and the world of professional theater all at once. Given a role in Richard III in a repertory company, he has trouble finding his place until he meets the theater's resident ghost. The ghost of nineteenth-century actor Garrick Marsden plays by turns the charmer and the trickster. It's when his true nature is revealed that Jared must make a choice between revenge and saving his difficult brother's life. Tolan effectively describes both theater life and sibling rivalry in this modern ghost story.VOYA -
This rapid-paced thriller starts out like a typical novel about family problems. A fifteen-year-old lives with his sickly grandfather because his parents are flighty and unpredictable. When the grandfather is hospitalized, the boy is forced to spend the summer with his actor/father, a man he does not even know. Jared learns to live amid an odd assortment of thespians in his father's theater troupe, and cope with a hopelessly spoiled half-brother who has a lifetime of acting credits. The group has reopened a historic theater and is planning to debut with a modern version of Shakespeare's Richard III.This is where the story gets exciting. Jared and his brother are given small parts in the play and Jared begins learning the many stagecrafts that go into live productions. While exploring the old theater he encounters the ghost of a nineteenth-century actor. Over time the spirit becomes his teacher and confidant, helping Jared get the better of his troublesome brother. Deep down, however, Jared fears the ghost's true motives. Excitement builds as the production nears opening night and the plot of the play begins to parallel the actors' lives. Jared discovers the real story behind the ghost's untimely demise and must outwit a murderer during the debut performance.
Readers will sympathize with Jared's family predicament and will enjoy the relationship he builds with the ghost. Descriptions of the staging, rehearsals, and behind-the-scenes preparations are interesting. Though Jared is fifteen, the novel is more suited to the upper elementary or middle school audience. Tolan is well known for other spellbinders, and does not disappoint here.
VOYA Codes: 5Q 4P M J (Hard to imagine it being better written, Broad general YA appeal, Middle School-defined as grades 6 to 8 and Junior High-defined as grades 7 to 9).