Shakespeare's Secret Book

I was charmed by this little mystery within a mystery. I love that there is a Shakespeare thread and a history thread and a school thread and a family mystery. It all works so well. Hero has moved into a new house and a new school. She is having a difficult time making friends. She does make friends with her next door neighbor, Mrs. Roth who is a grandmother type. Hero is made fun of for her name. Her parents named her after the play "Much ado about Nothing".

Danny shows up at Mrs. Roth one day and he is like the really cool kid at school. They start exploring the idea of did Shakespeare write Shakespeare and her dad is a Shakespeare scholar. They come up with some exciting theory and in the story, they prove it's worth. I had so much fun reading this story. The mysteries are wrapped up nicely and I won't spoil them here.

What I realized today thinking of this book is that I did figure most of the story out. I think when you get older and you have read a ton of stuff, it becomes easier to see threads the author is putting together and sorting out the logical direction of a story. It can be easy to get jade because as a reader, we don't get that surprise we got as newer readers. Even though I did figure things out, I still loved the characters and the mystery that was set up. It was all so fun and I enjoyed the read. I realized that what makes a book really wildly popular is that it can surprise even the most jaded reader with something new. So, it becomes for most people setting up great story lines and great characters and I feel this story did that.

I appreciate this little story. It makes me want to read 'Much Ado about Nothing' again too. I like the friendship that blooms between Hero and Danny and hero and Mrs Roth. I love the conclusion and it all feels so nice. I'm glad I found this before the library got rid of it.