New Boy

March 27, 2017
The latest in Hogarth’s Shakespeare series finds Chevalier (Girl with a Pearl Earring) relocating Othello to Washington, D.C., in the early 1970s, where sixth grader Osei, the son of a Ghanaian diplomat, faces his first morning at a new elementary school, his fourth in six years. The day starts well, as Osei meets popular girl Dee and the pair fall head over heels in love. But seeing the school’s only black boy woo a white girl is too much for Ian, a schoolyard bully, and he hatches a plan to ruin their blossoming relationship. Ian drags others into his manipulations, and by the end of the school day, hearts are broken and tragedy strikes the normally placid schoolyard. Chevalier smartly uses her narrative as an opportunity to spin a story commenting on racism in America, and while she weaves Shakespeare’s narrative arc into her novel by bouncing between characters’ experiences, the final result is only moderately effective. By compressing everything into one morning and afternoon, Chevalier rushes some action, and while the reader may recognize how children tend to amplify emotions, moments are occasionally difficult to believe.

The fifth entry in the Hogarth Shakespeare series reimagines OTHELLO taking place in the 1970s in Washington, DC. Narrator Prentice Onayemi's rhythmic performance carries listeners through Osei's first day as the only black student in a private elementary school. Well-liked Dee is asked to make Ghana-born Osei feel welcome, tipping the first domino in the destruction of the sixth-grade social sphere. Onayemi's believable African accent provides a sharp contrast between the ambassador's son and his American classmates. The distinctions among the female characters are less clear, however, as both teachers and students are given a similar lilt and vocal register. Despite the emotional punch Onayemi injects into the story's end, listeners may find it difficult to connect with the Shakespearean tragedy as enacted by 11-year-olds. C.B.L. � AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine

October 15, 2017

Chevalier (Girl with a Pearl Earring) takes a surprising narrative path with the Bard in tow: her privileged fifth graders play out Othello in a suburban Washington, DC, elementary school in 1974. The star here is narrator Prentice Onayemi, whose melodious, wide-ranging, gender-adaptive narration steals the show. The eponymous "new boy" is Osei, a diplomat's son originally from Ghana, who enters his fourth new school in six years. He, too, is "a diplomat of sorts"; as the only black student--and notably cosmopolitan with previous stopovers in London, Rome, and New York--Osei is no stranger to racism, both casual and targeted, especially from adults who should know and do better. He's befriended by popular girl Dee, and their burgeoning relationship quickly catches the envious attention of bully Ian, setting in motion inevitable consequences of childhood cruelty. VERDICT Onayemi unmistakably enhances what's on the page, proving again that the Bard is better performed than silently read. Libraries will not want to miss adding the latest series title. ["The emotional lives of 12-year-olds don't quite seem up to the weight of Shakespearean tragedy": LJ 4/15/17 review of the Hogarth: Crown hc.]--Terry Hong, Smithsonian BookDragon, Washington, DC

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