The total tragedy of a girl named Hamlet

Format:

Book

Title:

The total tragedy of a girl named Hamlet

Author:

Dionne, Erin, 1975- author.

ISBN:

9780803732988

9780803735354

9780142417485

Publication:

New York : Dial Books for Young Readers, [2010]

Physical Description:

290 pages ; 22 cm

Contents:

The problem(s) -- The low point(s) -- And then we came to the end -- Denouement, or what came later.

Summary:

Hamlet's attempts to be a "normal" eighth grader become increasingly difficult when her genius seven-year-old sister and her eccentric Shakespeare scholar parents both begin to attend her school.

Program Information:

Accelerated Reader MG 5 9.

Reading Counts 6-8 4.6 16.

Personal Subject:

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616-Juvenile fiction.

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616-Fiction.

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616

Subject(s):

Teenage girls -- Juvenile fiction.

Middle school students -- Juvenile fiction.

Sisters -- Juvenile fiction.

Interpersonal relations -- Juvenile fiction.

Self-confidence -- Juvenile fiction.

Middle schools -- Juvenile fiction.

Parent and child -- Juvenile fiction.

Sisters -- Fiction.

Interpersonal relations -- Fiction.

Self-confidence -- Fiction.

Middle schools -- Fiction.

Genre:

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Silver Falls Library	YA DIONNE	Searching... Unknown

Hamlet Kennedy just wants to be your average, happy, vanilla eighth grader. But with Shakespearean scholar parents who dress in Elizabethan regalia and generally go about in public as if it were the sixteenth century, that's not terribly easy. It gets worse when they decide that Hamlet's genius seven year-old sister will attend middle school with her-- and even worse when the Shakespeare project is announced and her sister is named the new math tutor. By the time an in-class recitation reveals that our heroine is an extraordinary Shakespearean actress, Hamlet can no longer hide from the fact that she--like her family--is anything but average.

In a novel every bit as funny as her debut, Erin Dionne has created another eighth grader whose situation is utterly unique--but whose foibles and farces will resound with every girl currently suffering through middle school.

Author Notes

Erin Dionne is an assistant professor of liberal arts at a small college north of Boston, where she teaches freshman comp, lit classes, and some creative writing electives. When not actively promoting her writing with great humor and enthusiastic understanding of the magic and miseries of middle school, Erin reminisces about her days in high school and college marching band. She lives with her husband and daughter in Framingham, Massachusetts.

Reviews (5)

School Library Journal Review

Gr 5-8-Eighth-grader Hamlet Kennedy, so named by her slightly obsessed Shakespearean-scholar parents, works hard to be normal and fit in at school. This becomes even more difficult when her genius seven-year-old sister begins attending her middle school. Hamlet offers her guidance and is stung not only when her advice is rejected, but also when Desdemona befriends two mean girls who have picked on Hamlet for years. On top of everything else, her teachers announce a special Shakespeare unit, and Hamlet is assigned the starring role in A Midsummer's Night's Dream. Suddenly, blending into the crowd is no longer an option and she must find the courage to embrace her talent as a Shakespearean performer and her family's quirkiness. Hamlet's narration is charming, and readers will empathize entirely with her embarrassment at both her clueless parents and her wavering between trying to protect her younger sister and allowing her to find out the hard way how to pick friends. Add a bit of romantic intrigue involving mysterious origami pigs and you have an excellent choice for middle school readers.-Caroline Tesauro, Radford Public Library, VA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publisher's Weekly Review

Hamlet, named for her Shakespeare-obsessed parents' favorite play, is starting the school year with the goal of fitting in. Not so easy when her parents walk around in Elizabethan garb and her seven-year-old genius sister, Desdemona, will be beginning eighth grade alongside her. Hamlet's two nemeses immediately befriend her sister and her crush doesn't notice her (though her male best friend is supposedly crushing on her). The final straw is the Shakespeare festival at school. When selected in class to read from A Midsummer Night's Dream, Hamlet proves to be a brilliant reader of the Bard, a skill she quickly tries to hide. Unsurprisingly, she must decide if it's better to shine as herself, both at school and at home, or to blend in the background. Hamlet's parents and circumstances feel over the top, but her emotions will resonate with anyone who has been embarrassed by family or confused by boys. Dionne's (Models Don't Eat Chocolate Cookies) pacing is a bit slow (the story is structured in three acts), but her voice is relatable and engaging. Ages 8-12. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Horn Book Review

As the daughter of quirky Shakespeare scholars, Hamlet Kennedy already has to deal with more embarrassment than the average eighth grader, her name being the least of her concerns. When her genius seven-year-old sister Dezzie--short for Desdemona--joins her class, Hamlet's life becomes even more like a tragicomedy. Readers will enjoy this humorous story and its sympathetic heroine. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.

Kirkus Review

Eighth grader Hamlet (named by her Shakespeare-crazed, professorial parents) has even more than a ghastly name to deal with in the complicated script of her life. Her seven-year-old sister, Desdemona, a genial genius, is starting classes at Hamlet's school, and she's expected to somehow ease the tyke into middle-school society. In the face of her sister's brilliance, Hamlet has always been able to fly under her parents' radar. But now, her newly discovered talent for performing Shakespeare (in a classroom A Midsummer Night's Dream exercise), to the astonishment of her teacher and classmates, has drawn unwanted attention. Even more tragically, her best (guy) friend seems to have developed a romantic interest in her, and she's failing math and needs tutoring fromher little sister. ("Such an injury would vex a saint!" as the Bard would have it.) What's a determinedly average girl to do? Hamlet believably grows to fit the new challenges in her life, and her frustrations, presented in a good-humored, first-person narrative, are entertainingly contained within the three Shakespearean(ish) acts of this amusing tale, which captures some of the pitfalls of middle school. (Fiction. 10-14) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

Hoping to fly under the radar in middle school, Hamlet's dream of a quiet eighth-grade year is dashed. Her genius seven-year-old sister, Desdemona, is also enrolled in eighth grade so she can fill her homeschooled curriculum deficiencies in the arts before moving on to college, and her flamboyant Shakespearean scholar parents in full Elizabethan garb offer their expertise in Hamlet's class. Hamlet vacillates between being protective of Dezzie and distancing herself. But when two popular girls befriend Dezzie, Hamlet wonders at their motives and causes a rift with her sister when she voices the suspicion that they are taking advantage of Dezzie's smarts to help them pass their classes. Hamlet further stands out during a dazzling reading of A Midsummer Night's Dream,which reveals her natural talent for theater. Some sisterly bonding, the sweet flutterings of a first romance, and a creatively contrived comeuppance for the mean girls make this a cheerful read for younger middle-schoolers.--Booth, Heather Copyright 2010 Booklist