King of shadows: it was written in 1999 by Susan cooper
Characters :
Nathan Field--The main character of the story, Nat Field is a boy who is missing a father figure in his life. He also has no mother so he lives with his Aunt Jen. Aunt Jen was the one who inspired him to start acting when his dad died. He is passionate in acting, and gets recruited to an acting troupe recreating Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. When he goes back in time, he experiences the play as it just comes out. He struggles with the shadows of his past (the death of his parents) and finds a warm father figure in Shakespeare. He is devastated when, just as he got used to Elizabethan times, everything is snatched from him again.
Roper--A mischievous boy whom Nat meets during his 'visit' to the Elizabethan times, Roper hates Nat at first. His dislike is caused by simple envy, as the Nathan Field from that time was a privileged, "soft" actor from a prestigious, rich school while Roper (and the rest of the boy actors) had been thrown into the real world at the age of ten, apprenticed to actors and learning by experiencing. Roper is an excellent tumbler and fencer and cannot stand having someone better than him. On his first day, Nat confidently showcases tumbling that surpasses Roper's, so Roper takes vengeance by attacking him ferociously in fencing, of which Nat has little experience. Roper nastily tries to get Nat into trouble during the plays, and laughs at him when he is horrified at a bear pit. Later, when Nat applies the Heimlich Manoeuvre to save Roper from choking, then saves the play by substituting in for the sick boy. Roper repents from hating Nat for his talent and becomes slightly more tolerable.
Richard 'Arby' Babbage--He is the director of the Boys Of Company. In discovering Nat, Arby is triumphant and mysteriously purposeful. Eerily serious in the plays' production, Arby strives for perfection and is called "a dragon" multiple times. The first example of his character is startling when in the first pages Arby, in a simple exercise game used as a ways of introducing the actors to each other, banishes a boy immediately when he plays a joke on Nat breaks the game's "trust". A quote from the book shows an odd, foreshadowing way he expresses his authority: "Then Arby said, very quietly, "Warnum, I am directing this play, for this century, and you will all do exactly what I tell you." He is later named Richard Babbage, suspiciously parallel to the brilliant actor, Master Richard Burbage, whom Nat met during his time travel. His nickname, Arby, came from his initials said out loud, RB.
William Shakespeare--A famous poet and playwright of the 16th century, his character serves as a father figure to Nat, helping him overcome his depression and loss. He is described as calm, warm, and rich in character. He dislikes "thribbling", where actors make up impromptu lines. Nat has time traveled to save him from catching the bubonic plague from Nathan Field, as most of his greatest work was written after this time. Shakespeare plays Oberon, the king of fairies, alongside Puck.
Summary -
Nat Fields is a member of the Company of Boys, a theater troupe, that has been selected to go to London to perform A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Globe Theater. Acting has been a refuge for him since the deaths of his parents. After arriving in London, Nat contracts a fever and becomes delirious. Nat's host family rushes him to the hospital where he is put in isolation with a case of bubonic plague. Nat awakes in Elizabethan London of 1599, where he has traded places in the space-time continuum with Nathan Fields, a young actor living in Elizabethan England. Nathan/Nat has been selected to play Oberon in Shakespeare's company's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Will, as Nat calls him, takes Nat under his wing and becomes the father figure that he is missing. Nat is crushed when the play is over, and he returns to the present. Nathan returns to 1599 cured of the plague. With the help of a sonnet, Nat comes to grips with the loss of his parents and the loss of his friend, Will.
Cooper's writing makes the distant world of Shakespeare and his plays accessible to middle-school age students, thus giving them the desire to read and/or see the plays to which Cooper alludes. Also, the strong influence friendships outside one's peer group and family can have on people is evident through the relationships presented in this novel.
Finally Theme of the book--Families
Friends and Enemies
Challenges and Triumphs