The Player King: An Audio Book Review and Giveaway

Congratulations to Kathy Dykstra, an “old” friend who is new to my blog, for winning Four Seasons of Fun and to Connie Saunders for winning Lulu & Rocky in Milwaukee.

I was already an Avi fan when I had the privilege of hearing him speak at the South Carolina Reading Association. I’ll never forget his guessing game for his audience. He asked us how many times we thought he revised a novel. I don’t think anyone came close to the answer: 100 times! 

His books demonstrate his driving desire to "get it right" results in well-crafted books for children which adults enjoy too.

(For my other reviews of Avi's books see The Book Without Words,  and Crispin at the End of the World.)

REVIEW

England, 1486. King Henry VII has recently snatched the English Crown and now sits on the throne, while young Prince Edward, who has a truer claim, has apparently disappeared. Meanwhile, a penniless kitchen boy named Lambert Simnel is slaving away at a tavern in Oxford—until a mysterious friar, Brother Simonds, buys Lambert from the tavern keeper and whisks him away in the dead of night. But this is nothing compared to the secret that the friar reveals: You, Lambert, are actually Prince Edward, the true King of England! 

With the aid of the deceitful Earl of Lincoln, Brother Simonds sets out to teach the boy how to become the rightful English king. Lambert has everything to gain and nothing to lose, or so he thinks. Yet in this dangerous battle for the throne, Lambert is not prepared for what’s to come—or for what it really means to play at being a king. (Taken from Avi's synopsis of the book.)

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"If you act like a king, you will be king." Brother Simonds drills this advice into Lambert every waking moment. This motto dictates how he must bathe, wear shoes, memorize his royal lineage, and act like nobility during during an audience with the Earl of Lincoln. 

Although Lambert's belly is full for the first time in his life, he longs to return to his simple life as an enslaved kitchen boy--to hear once again that he is a "nobody." But when he runs back there, believing that Simonds must be mad to think he is the rightful king, he finds that no one recognizes him with his trimmed hair and elegant clothes.  

The second time Lambert escapes the guarded house where he is being trained to assume his role, he sees a "player king," a man who acting the part of a king in a play in the marketplace. Lambert realizes that he has the unique opportunity which every boy in England dreams of--he could actually be the King of England. 

Although he recognizes that Brother Simonds and the Earl of Lambert are using him for their own political gains, he begins to believe, "I am Edward. Earl of Warwick. I am the true king." But it is clear to the reader that he is a boy enjoying a grand adventure.

Lambert gets more than he bargains for. He mocks Simonds who leaves him and Lambert belatedly realizes that the priest was his only friend. With allusion to "The Emperor and His New Clothes" and My Fair Lady, Earl of Lincoln and his advisor, Lowell, condescend to calling Lambert their king. But as Lowell pointedly says, "It is always better when the storyteller believes his own tale."

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Since Avi writes a lot of historical fiction, I assumed there was some historical foundation to this book. I was unprepared to read this on his website:

Read the histories of the time, and he [Lambert] is barely mentioned. Indeed, just last week I saw a documentary about Henry VII and Lambert was not even cited. But Lambert—a boy—was crowned King of England (in Dublin, Ireland) and led a large invasion army into England, only to be defeated at the Battle Of Trent, the last battle of the War of the Roses. I noticed Lambert in a footnote. 

Very little is known about Lambert Simnel. Where did he come from? How did he come to be crowned king? What happened to him after the battle? Certain facts are known—he did exist—but the boy…. Just who was he? What did he think of all that happened to him? 

That’s what I have tried to write in The Player King. 

Strictly speaking, the title should have been The Player Kings. There is more than one false king in the book.
The challenge was to write about something which is well known—except the central player, the player king—the boy known as Lambert Simnel. 

The truth is, foot notes are the foot soldiers of history.

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Here is an audio excerpt from the book.

GIVEAWAY

I'm able to give this book away courtesy of Recorded Books. John Keating does an excellent job as narrator. It will make a great middle grade curriculum resource; teachers could discuss English history and political maneuvering throughout the ages. 

If you are interested in joining this giveaway, please leave me a comment (with your email address if you are new to my blog) by December 29th. Share this on social media or start following my blog and I'll enter your name twice.

Twice Betrayed: A Cover Reveal and ARC Giveaway!

I'm honored to share a cover reveal for a tween book that will be released next month. TWICE BETRAYED, by my fellow Highlights Summer Camp participant, Gayle Krause, will be available on March 28th from Trowbridge Books.

Isn't this a gorgeous cover?

Here's the blurb for the book:

The thread of friendship is stretched to the breaking point…

With the spark of independence crackling in Colonial Philadelphia, 

Perdy Rogers chafes under the strict rule of her Quaker grandmother and the endless duties of her apprenticeship in Betsy Ross’s upholstery shop. So when her best friend shares a secret and invites Perdy to help plan an elopement, she’s thrilled to be with her friends again. But Perdy has no idea that one favor will unravel the stable fabric of her life and involve her in a tangled web of deceit, lies and treachery.

Disguised as boys, three girls head to the river to put Perdy’s plan into action, but only two return. When the third, a young milliner’s assistant, is found drowned with gold coins sewn into her hems, coded spy letters in her bodice, and a journal implicating another sewing apprentice as her co-conspirator, all eyes turn to Perdy Rogers. But she’s no spy!

Accused of treason, she struggles to prove her innocence with the help of a handsome stranger and learns the hard way that freedom, whether an individual’s or a country’s, comes at a cost.

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Gayle shares some of the backstory behind TWICE BETRAYED:

I’ve always loved history and discovering how things came to be. In the Caribbean, the long-lost pirates whispered to me with each crash of the waves. I’m working on a female pirate story. When I walked in Pompeii, I felt like I had been there before. In the Coliseum, a new story blossomed, about one of the entertainers. I’ve yet to write that one!

But Perdy’s story was different. I wrote it first, and when I visited the Betsy Ross House, after the story was completed, I froze in my tracks and my husband asked me what was wrong.

But nothing was wrong…it was right. I had described the shop, the kitchen, the bedroom Perdy shared with her sister and grandmother in great detail, with the only difference between TWICE BETRAYED and the real thing being the shape of the stairs. And since the whole story about Betsy Ross making the first flag is a legend, with no real proof that she actually did make it (you can ask any historian) it was a perfect setting for my story.

I come from a long line of seamstresses and am a certified Home Economics teacher so you can see how the sewing bits in the story are relevant.

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TWICE BETRAYED is a mix of fact and fiction stitched together to bring a new light to the fabric of our beginnings, told from the eyes of a thirteen-year-old girl, who fell into a web of deceit and struggled to win her freedom.

Gayle is giving away an autographed ARC to one fortunate winner. Please leave your name and email address (if you are new to my blog.) Random.org and I will pick a winner on February 4. If you share this on social media, let me know what you do and I'll enter your name twice. 

Gayle Krause was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania where she led the younger kids in creative dramatics, wilderness expeditions, and fossil hunting. Those early interactions led her to a career in teaching, where, as a Master teacher she continued to inspire teens as she prepared prospective Elementary Teachers and Early Childhood Educators at the secondary and post-secondary levels. Simultaneously, she directed an instructional Laboratory Pre-K for her students, where she worked with eager young preschoolers.

What I Saw and How I Lied

Congratulations to Donna Earnhardt who won last week's giveaway and will receive Gretchen Griffith's picture book, "When Christmas Feels Like Home." Don't be discouraged if you didn't win. Next week Deanna Klingel will share her winning query letter along with a chance to win "Cracks In the Ice."

Today, I want to share my thoughts on the 2008 National Book Award winner What I Saw and How I Lied; a book which could easily be subtitled, "Things aren't always as they seem." 

I was attracted to this audio book since my work-in-progress Half-Truths deals with the theme of family secrets. Set in 1947, author Judy Blundell, tells the story of 15-year-old Evie Spooner, who uncovers a series of lies which her beloved mother and step-father tell.

Her step-father, Joe Spooner, is a World War II veteran who marries Evie's attractive mother, Bev. In a moment worthy of being mentioned in the pages of LIFE magazine, Bev is rescued from a life of being leered at by men in order to give Evie a "normal" father like every other girl has.  

But what Evie doesn't realize, is that Joe brings baggage -- in the form of money from goods that were stolen from the Nazis who stole it from the Jews-- to the marriage. 

When 23-year-old Peter Coleridge follows the family to a vacation in Florida, Evie falls head over heels in love with him. Joe reluctantly admits that Pete served with him in the war and Evie doesn't understand Joe's resentment to Peter. Caught up in her own "first love" Evie doesn't see how her mother also sneaks away to see Peter. 

Blundell creates two believable stories: the "top story" of a young girl's infatuation, what she does to gain her crush's attention, and how she innocently sees the world; and then the "underside" story of events which leave her parents accused of an heinous crime. Evie comes of age as she recognizes that events can be portrayed, explained, and even legitimized -- all depending on your point of view.   

Blundell did an excellent job of depicting life immediately following World War II and the aftermath which both veterans and their families faced. In the author's note at the end of the book, Blundell explains how she immersed herself in the music and literature of the time period. Her diligence to details shows. 

Since I am also writing a post-World War II book that deals with lies and deception, this book challenges me to authentically portray my characters' struggles. 

I disagree with the publisher's suggestion that this is a book for 9-12 year olds. I think the hint at sexual activity, violence, and the complicated family allegiances make this more appropriate as a young adult book.