Book #12- Coming of Age

The Total Tragedy of a Girl Named Hamlet
By: Erin Dionne

Synopsis (from Barnesandnoble.com): 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 sevenyear- 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.

So, What do I think?

Overall: I laughed, I cried, and then I laughed some more. I thought this book was too cute! I am usually so stuck in my fantasy world that I am always so suprised when I enjoy a good coming of age story. I really had fun with this book because I had several friends in school who had weird and quirky parents like Hamlet. I also remember how hard it was to fit in junior high school. I was always questioning my coolness like Hamlet, so this was a nice read.

Characters: The main character, Hamlet, was very well written and I could really see her as a teenager. Her sister, Dezzie, was also well written as the brainiac seven-year-old sister. She is way beyond her age with ehr smarts, but Dionne still kept her a little girl by the way she dressed and acted at home. KC is your typical boy who thinks that making fun of girls is a way to show them you like them. Story of my whole junior high experience! Spot on with that character.

Idea: Even though I never had Shakespearean scholars, I still could relate to the idea of the story. Embarassing parents, mean girls, and true friends are the backbones to this great story. The idea of her being named Hamlet was really cute and it set the whole entire story. I loved the too smart sister and the quirky parents.

Googie's Grade: 5 out of 5 stars!!