This was a fabulous book! I think I'll read it aloud to my kids sometime. Young Nick is endearing for many reasons, but most of all for the love he has for his mother.

The author dedicates the book this way:

"All that Nicholas Attwood's was to him, and more, my own mother has been to me. And to her here I inscribe this book with a never failing love."

Isn't that sweet? It sets the whole tone for the book.

An adventure tale set in Shakespeare's time, it was a great and detailed story of life in that time. I love the descriptions and the characters are interesting and compelling. One think I appreciated was that the author didn't see fit to make the characters speak in Elizabethan English :) I loved the descriptions of Shakespeare and others.

And I freely admit to shedding some tears at the end. ( )

FROM WIKIPEDA: Master Skylark: A Story of Shakespeare's Time is a best-selling 1897 children's book by American author John Bennett, about a child growing up in Shakespearean times who is kidnapped for his beautiful singing voice, and ultimately rescued and returned home with the aid of William Shakespeare and other noted figures of the time.