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I’ve just finished reading a great children’s book, Nathan Fox Dangerous Times by L. Brittney. The book is about a 14-year-old actor in Elizabethan times who is asked to become a young spy. He is friends with a young Will Shakespeare in the early part of the book and the story includes little nods to his plays with Nathan becoming caught up in the tragic story of Othello. Dangerous Times (published by Macmillan) is the first in a planned series (the second Traitor’s Gold is also available) and has been shortlisted for the 2008 Branford Boase Award. I enjoyed the part where Nathan is trained up best of all and it looks like that will continue in the sequel. Nathan Fox is also the second children’s book I have read in the last few weeks to have been written by a woman who uses her initials (the other being M.G. Harris) Of course J.K Rowling is the most famous example. I read ages ago that Joanne Rowling was told boys wouldn’t read a book if it was written by a female and that was why she was told to use J.K. If true that’s a real shame and I wonder if that still applies after her phenomenal success besides you often only have to look inside the cover to see from the short biography or photo that the author is a woman. Do boys really judge a book from its cover? So how would I feel about being S.M Humphreys rather than Susan Humphreys? I think the Susan version looks friendlier and there’s not much difference in length. What do you think?

It took me about forty pages to warm to this historical novel about a teenage Elizabeth Tudor, mainly because author Ann Rinaldi did such a poor job of establishing the narrator's voice. Elizabeth is old beyond her years, and not just because children were forced to grow up faster. At eight years of age she is expressing love for an admired member of her father's court, and it is as if Rinaldi has lost track of her narrator's age. Dialogue between Elizabeth and her younger brother Edward sounds as if it is exchanged between grown-ups, rather than tweenies (which they are at the start of the story--forsooth!) The book vacilates between juvenile and young adult suitability. But once it becomes clear that this is a YA book, both in content and style (again, it took about 40 pages, so be patient,) this is an engrossing story of political machinations, love affairs, and family dysfunction. Despite the fact that we know Elizabeth will go on to become one of England's most influential monarchs, it is fascinating watching her walk the tightrope between familial sentiment and survival.

Elizabeth is portrayed as a wise and wily young woman, mindful of her place while out of favor, but never forgetful that she could very well be queen one day. She watches her rivals get their turn at the throne, and then fall through one means or another (some natural, others, as in the case of the unfortunate Lady Jane Grey, unnatural.) Supporting characters in the book, of which there are many, are well-rounded. Rinaldi manages to avoid caricature when portraying larger than life figures like Henry VIII. In the end, The Redheaded Princess is worth the effort and will reward readers with a fresh look at one of the most fascinating political dynasties in history.