Many of you may recall that one of my favorite YA novels published last year was Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev. Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.īut I digress, as this is not a post about poetry, but is instead a post about Perchance to Dream, which draws its title from yet another Shakespeare play, Hamlet - and specifically from the monologue beginning 'To be or not to be, that is the question.' (Bonus points to those of you who recognize Peaseblossom's prologue as a parody of the opening of Romeo and Juliet: In the countryside where we lay our sceneĪnd cupcake crumbs make fairy hands unclean. Specifically, on page two of the book, Peaseblossom (yes, one of the fairies from A Midsummer Night's Dream) creates her own prologue, which begins as follows*:Ī gloaming peace this evening with it brings

Also! There is a bit of poetry within the book. And! Many of the characters in Perchance to Dream are based on (or pulled out of) Shakespeare's plays (and I did just post Shakespeare's Sonnet 55 yesterday). Why are you blogging about a prose novel? The answer is that I just can't help myself. Who does Bertie love the most? And will her magic be powerful enough to save her once she enters the Sea Witch's lair? Once again, LISA MANTCHEV has spun a tale like no other - full of romance, magic, adventure, and fairies, too - that readers won't want to put down, even after the curtain has closed.Kellyrfineman I know, I know.

Bertie's dreams are haunted by Nate, whose love for Bertie is keeping him alive, but in the daytime, it's Ariel who is tantalizingly close, and the one she is falling for. Along the way, they collect a sneak-thief, who has in his possession something most valuable, and meet a bird that might be Bertie's father - and the maker of the magical Scrimshaw. She and her fairy sidekicks embark on a journey aboard the Thèâtre's locomotive caravan, using Bertie's word magic to guide them. When Nate is kidnapped and taken prisoner by the Sea Witch, only Bertie can free him. Ariel: A brooding, yet seductive, air spirit. And her magic cannot help her make a decision between - Nate: Her suave and swashbuckling pirate. Bertie can make things happen by writing them, but outside the protective walls of the Thèâtre, they don't go as planned. Enter BERTIE AND COMPANY And it is nothing like the one she has come to expect. Now, she is the Mistress of Revels, the Teller of Tales. She knew the players and their parts, but she didn't know that she, too, had magic. Act Two, Scene One Growing up in the enchanted Thèâtre Illuminata, Beatrice Shakespeare Smith learned everything about every play ever written.

Perchance to dream lisa mantchev