The Stratford Boys [Hardcover]

HEATHROW NIGHTS: 'This is an excellent parallel text for those reading Hamlet - humane, often witty, and stimulating. Its perspective should endear it to teachers tackling the play for the umpteenth time with a new set of puzzled faces, offering fresh angles from which to view that tragic hero alongside a perceptive depiction of the rougher edges of grief.' -- The Guardian, April 2001 It's one of those fiendishly clever books that slips a lot of history and literature past children of 10 and older. -- independent on sunday 20040718 a thoroughly entertaining romp about the highs and horrors of amateur dramatics -- independent on sunday 20040718 any aspiring thesps among your kids will love it -- independent on sunday 20040718 A real page-turner. Great for kids ... studying Shakespeare and his times -- The Bookseller 20030701

A real page-turner. Great for kids ... studying Shakespeare and his times --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

It is a joy. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

A hugely enjoyable and dazzilingly clever novel --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Will is a glover's son, who spends his days fitting gloves to pretty hands in his father's busy shop, and apart from the odd poem he's never before put pen to paper. But the good people of Stratford require a play, and with his pal Adrian Croft he finds himself responsible for putting one on the stage. Will's imagination works overtime as he struggles to find parts for his motley selection of friends and neighbours: school boys who refuse to wear skirts, Adam of Muscovy, Wat the plasterer with a chip on his shoulder and many others. Thank goodness for trusty Adrian - a friend and director whose belief in their endeavours stands firm. Together they manage to assemble an unlikely company of amateurs - schoolboys and workmen. Fortune My Foe is the result, and Will hears the heady sound of applause for the first time...

This novel will undoubtedly find a hugely committed audience among both young people and adults

Jan Mark takcles the business of writing: how to construct dialogue and create characters on the page. The perfect book for Key Stage 3 students of English

'The Eclipse of the Century' was one of the most exciting 'grand' novels of 2000. Stratford Boys is an immensly important title for 2003

Jan Mark's first novel, THUNDER AND LIGHTNINGS, won the Penguin/Guardian award for unpublished manuscripts in 1974, and was later awarded the Carnegie Medal. Since then, she has won many awards for her novels and short stories for adults and children, including a second Carnegie Medal (for HANDLES) and the Angel literary award for ZENO WAS HERE and for AQUARIUS. Most recently, THE ECLIPSE OF THE CENTURY was shortlisted for the 2000 Guardian Fiction Prize. A former teacher, Jan Mark now devotes much of her time to running writing workshops for students and teachers.