Devil and His Boy PDF
Preview Devil and His Boy
Chase through the streets of Elizabethan London in this historical adventure from the creator of Alex Rider. London is dirty, distant and dangerous...but that's where orphan Tom Falconer is heading. And he's got a whole assortment of vicious criminals hot on his heels. Tom is helpless and alone until he meets Moll Cutpurse, a thirteen-year-old pickpocket. Together they find themselves chased across the city by the murderous Ratsey. But it's only on the first night of a new play - The Devil and his Boy - that Tom realizes that the fate of the Queen and indeed the entire country rests in his hands. This title is from the creator of "Alex Rider" series which has sold ten million books worldwide.
From School Library JournalGrade 5-7-Finding himself in London when he fully expected to spend all of his days in Framlingham where he worked, or more precisely slaved, for Sebastian and Henrietta Slope, young Tom Falconer hardly knows what to make of the startling turn of events in his life. Taken from the Slopes' inn by a gentleman who is then murdered by the highwayman, Ratsey, Tom is now on his own. Befriended by a pickpocket, Moll Cutpurse, he decides he wants to be an actor. As luck would have it, no appropriate parts are available for him in Will Shakespeare's new play at the Rose Theatre, so he accepts work with the mysterious Dr. Mobius, whose play The Devil and His Boy is to be presented before Queen Elizabeth. The fast-paced plot quickly thickens. Tom finds himself pursued by Ratsey, warned of danger by a fellow actor, and caught up in political intrigue. Needless to say, when he lands in the lap of the queen while trying to save her life, Tom finds himself in more trouble than he ever thought possible. Horowitz paints his characters, or in some cases, caricatures, with broad strokes and keeps the melodramatic story moving at a rapid clip. There's no subtlety here, but it's a rollicking good tale that is mostly based on historical fact, or at least historical rumor.
Barbara Scotto, Michael Driscoll School, Brookline, MA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Mixing history with adventure, Horowitz offers a rousing story set in Elizabethan England. Young Tom Falconer has had a miserable existence working at The Pig's Head Inn. When a mysterious gentleman appears to take Tom to a new life, it seems like a miracle. Then the gentleman is murdered, and Tom is left to find his way around London. Characterizations are thin, but Horowitz provides plenty of action and, to his credit, does not try to pretty up Elizabethan life for his audience: Tom's legs are almost cut off by a Faginlike character who wants to make him into a beggar boy; other dirty and disfigured characters are described in detail. When Tom gets involved with a group of players putting on the show The Devil and His Boy, he doesn't suspect it's a ruse to overthrow the queen or that he'll wind up saving her. A pleasant surprise is the afterword, which details the parts of the story that are true. Even the story's secret (the queen has a grandson) has some basis in fact. Pair this with Susan Cooper's King of Shadows (1999), in which William Shakespeare also makes an appearance. Ilene Cooper
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