Release Message:  A modern day boy switches places with a Shakespearean actor who needs to be cured by modern medicine. Written by Susan Cooper

Description:  A modern day boy switches places with a Shakespearean actor who needs to be cured by modern medicine so as to return to his own age and help Shakespeare to greater success on the stage. Children's historical novel by Susan Cooper published in 1999 by Penguin. In the U.K. it was a finalist for both the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize. Not in the world of the stage can Nat Field (Nathan) find an escape from the tragedies that have shadowed his young life. So he is thrilled when he is chosen to join an American drama troupe traveling to London to perform A Midsummer Night's Dream in a new replica of the famous Globe Theatre. Shortly after arriving in London, England, Nat goes to bed ill and awakens transported back in time four hundred years„to another London in 1599, and another production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Amid the bustle and excitement of an Elizabeth theatrical production, Nat finds the warm, nurturing father figure missing from his life„in none other than William Shakespeare himself.