by Carolyn Meyer
This book is an enjoyable children's historical fiction novel about Queen Elizabeth Tudor. I mean the original one, daughter of Henry VIII and sister to Bloody Mary.
It's an observant and, I presume, historically accurate account of Elizabeth's relationships with her family and her life during the reign of her brother Edward and sister Mary. It's reasonably well-written, though simply told, from Elizabeth's point of view. I did not, however, appreciate all of the insights into the lady's mind, as most of them consisted of either "Someday, I will be queen" or the equally melodramatic "I shall never marry". While I realize that it's necessary to make certain assumptions when writing a historical fiction novel, I think we can afford to make them a little less repetitive. It's pretty annoying, I think, when an author goes on and on about a single little point. I mean, I recognize that repetition is important for unifying a work of art or writing. I respect that. I really do. But I think that at some point you have to step back and realize, hey, I've made this point clear enough even for the most dim-witted of readers to comprehend. Otherwise, you just bore readers into closing the book or hitting the Escape button to Escape your endless blog post. Face it, we all have to respect our readers' time. Mutual respect is important between an author and her readers. And that's why most of us can't stand it when someone goes on and on about something, and we're like, "Ok, I think I get the point already!"
Anyway. What was I saying? Oh yes. Something about Elizabeth Tudor. This book is a fun way to learn about one of the more fascinating people in history, and about life and the royal court in 16th century England. Those at court were masters of intrigue, which is probably why most of them got their heads chopped off at some point. That our friend Elizabeth survived is reason enough to congratulate her. This is, as I said, a children's book, and is neither sufficiently in-depth, historically speaking, nor involved enough to satisfy an adult or older teenager.
Carolyn Meyer has written several other books in this vein, which include similar novels about Anne Boleyn, Mary Tudor, and queen Catherine.
for: children and younger teens
Content rating: 4.5/5 Unsurprisingly, there are a few mentions of love affairs. And lots of people die. Nothing particularly graphic.
My enjoyment: 3.5/5 I enjoyed it more when I first read this book as a younger teen. I guess my tastes have matured some. More detail! More history!
This book is an enjoyable children's historical fiction novel about Queen Elizabeth Tudor. I mean the original one, daughter of Henry VIII and sister to Bloody Mary.
It's an observant and, I presume, historically accurate account of Elizabeth's relationships with her family and her life during the reign of her brother Edward and sister Mary. It's reasonably well-written, though simply told, from Elizabeth's point of view. I did not, however, appreciate all of the insights into the lady's mind, as most of them consisted of either "Someday, I will be queen" or the equally melodramatic "I shall never marry". While I realize that it's necessary to make certain assumptions when writing a historical fiction novel, I think we can afford to make them a little less repetitive. It's pretty annoying, I think, when an author goes on and on about a single little point. I mean, I recognize that repetition is important for unifying a work of art or writing. I respect that. I really do. But I think that at some point you have to step back and realize, hey, I've made this point clear enough even for the most dim-witted of readers to comprehend. Otherwise, you just bore readers into closing the book or hitting the Escape button to Escape your endless blog post. Face it, we all have to respect our readers' time. Mutual respect is important between an author and her readers. And that's why most of us can't stand it when someone goes on and on about something, and we're like, "Ok, I think I get the point already!"
Anyway. What was I saying? Oh yes. Something about Elizabeth Tudor. This book is a fun way to learn about one of the more fascinating people in history, and about life and the royal court in 16th century England. Those at court were masters of intrigue, which is probably why most of them got their heads chopped off at some point. That our friend Elizabeth survived is reason enough to congratulate her. This is, as I said, a children's book, and is neither sufficiently in-depth, historically speaking, nor involved enough to satisfy an adult or older teenager.
Carolyn Meyer has written several other books in this vein, which include similar novels about Anne Boleyn, Mary Tudor, and queen Catherine.
for: children and younger teens
Content rating: 4.5/5 Unsurprisingly, there are a few mentions of love affairs. And lots of people die. Nothing particularly graphic.
My enjoyment: 3.5/5 I enjoyed it more when I first read this book as a younger teen. I guess my tastes have matured some. More detail! More history!
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