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THE SECRET OF THE ROSE

Name: THE SECRET OF THE ROSE
Author: Sarah L. Thomson
ISBN: 0-06-087250-0

by Sarah L. Thomson ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 2006

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Rosalind and her younger brother Robin are the children of a wool merchant, turned out of their comfortable home when their secretly Catholic father is imprisoned. They make their way to Elizabethan London to find him, in short order losing their carefully hoarded coins and possessions and discovering that their father has died in prison. Robin is distracted by and soon taken in by players who need a tumbling boy. Rosalind chops off her hair and dresses as a boy to keep herself safer as well as to protect her brother. As Richard, she catches the eye of the brooding Kit Marlowe—mercurial, secretive—who needs a boy to run his errands and make fair copies of his plays. This fast-paced and accessible tale is full of the dark side of Elizabethan times: spies and informants; persecution of Catholics; stench and disease; fear of immigrants, the plague and of the players themselves. The title refers to the Rose Theatre and to Rosalind’s own secrets of gender and religion. While the historical aspects are clear and not trifled with (she does get to meet Will Shakespeare), it is Rosalind’s story that compels. (Historical fiction. 10-14)

Pub Date: July 1, 2006

ISBN: 0-06-087250-0

Page Count: 304

Publisher: Greenwillow Books

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2006

Categories:

CHILDREN'S MYSTERY & THRILLER | CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION | CHILDREN'S ENTERTAINMENT & SPORTS

- BOOK REVIEW
WHEN PAUL REVERE RODE
by Sarah L. Thomson ; illustrated by Nik Henderson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE GRIFFIN'S BOY
by Sarah L. Thomson ; illustrated by Anna Aparicio Català

- BOOK REVIEW
TWO FRIENDS, ONE DOG, AND A VERY UNUSUAL WEEK
by Sarah L. Thomson ; illustrated by Vin Vogel

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THE SEVENTH MOST IMPORTANT THING

by Shelley Pearsall ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 8, 2015

Luminescent, just like the artwork it celebrates. (Historical fiction. 10-14)

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Traumatized by his father’s recent death, a boy throws a brick at an old man who collects junk in his neighborhood and winds up on probation working for him.

Pearsall bases the book on a famed real work of folk art, the Throne of the Third Heaven, by James Hampton, a janitor who built his work in a garage in Washington, D.C., from bits of light bulbs, foil, mirrors, wood, bottles, coffee cans, and cardboard—the titular seven most important things. In late 1963, 13-year-old Arthur finds himself looking for junk for Mr. Hampton, who needs help with his artistic masterpiece, begun during World War II. The book focuses on redemption rather than art, as Hampton forgives the fictional Arthur for his crime, getting the boy to participate in his work at first reluctantly, later with love. Arthur struggles with his anger over his father’s death and his mother’s new boyfriend. Readers watch as Arthur transfers much of his love for his father to Mr. Hampton and accepts responsibility for saving the art when it becomes endangered. Written in a homespun style that reflects the simple components of the artwork, the story guides readers along with Arthur to an understanding of the most important things in life.

Luminescent, just like the artwork it celebrates. (Historical fiction. 10-14)