My Never Ending List

So I don’t know much about Shakespeare, never read one of the plays/sonnets and I do have problems with the jargon used within this timeframe. I know, perhaps if I really sat down and listened, really listened and followed along I might understand and possibly enjoy this great master of writing but what I really was looking for when I picked up this novel was a entertaining read.  The Kennedy family is obsessed with this great master and Hamlet, is embarrassed by the fact. When your parents dress in the garb, speak the 16^th century language and carry-on as if they were living in that time period, as an 8^th grader you want nothing else but to have a normal life. Going to school, Hamlet thought she would have that until she realizes she will be sharing her school with her little sister Dezzie, who is genius. First time in a school setting, Dezzie needs to learn social skills and Hamlet feels that by teaching her, she is paying the price. Just when she thought it couldn’t get any worse, her teachers announce a joint project and wouldn’t you know the time period involved. How can she keep this project away from her parents?

Hamlet has to choose her battles in this book between knowing when to keep quiet and when to rise to the occasion. She has her friends who want to help her deal with her situation but Hamlet also feels bad for the feeling she has over her issues. The counselor at school gives her an out, a place where she can go and talk if she needs to, which I thought was a great addition by the author. I loved the concept of the Go Cards which the counselor handed to Hamlet – when she wanted to talk. Hamlet just needed to put one under his door with her signature on it and he would then call her to his office sometime that day. A nice quiet, secure way of saying you needed someone. As Dezzie deals with school, she has to deal with more issues than she thought. She thought academics would be her main concern but she later realizes that with school, more issues come into play. She is part of a community now and not everyone things and behaves the same way. It’s a cute book that would be appealing to middle school students.