A. Spratt (text) and Jessica Cruikshank (illustrator), Hamlet Is Not OK, Penguin Australia, July 2023, 224 pp., RRP $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9780143779278
Hamlet Is Not Ok is written by R. A. Spratt, who has also written the ‘Friday Barnes’ series. The main character, Selby, doesn’t like doing homework (who does?) so after her parents find out, they ask Selby’s brother’s friend to tutor her. This results in Dan and Selby meeting and interacting with the characters of Hamlet, due to them being sucked into the story (like Harry Potter going into the diary in the second book). As I read other books with dragons and such in them, this concept wasn’t hard to accept. After stopping a few murders from happening, Selby gains a deeper understanding of Hamlet, both the character and play in general. Hamlet, as a character completely out of his depth in the modern world, was hilarious and offered a different perspective into our lives today. Hamlet in his own time was intense, withdrawn and quite emotional at times and it was fun to see Selby and Dan’s interactions with the characters in a time wildly different to their own.
The book is a really quick read with short, interesting chapters. I really liked the setup. It was formatted so there were 3-5 lines of Shakespeare at a time, and it wasn’t overly complicated pieces of dialogue. I also very much enjoyed the warning at the start that had me hooked by the second sentence.
I did have my concerns over the book as I have previously read a Shakespearean play (Romeo & Juliet) and that was difficult to read but the way Spratt constructed the character of Dan so he explained what the characters were saying in a modern way meant Selby (and the reader) could easily understand and engage in the story.
I think the book would be well suited to readers aged 9-15. It would also help people reading and studying the play for an English or Literature assignment.
Reviewed by Grace Gaffney
