Playing a Part

Reviewed by: Krisitn Taylor - Biddeford High School, Biddeford, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: June 9, 2015

Review

This is the first American publishing of this book which was originally written in Russia as "Shutovskoi Kolpak" and translated by Marian Schwartz. It is about a young man, Grishka, who has grown up in the very closed world of Russian puppet theater. His world seems to be falling apart with his best friend needing a very serious operation and finances that are threatening the theater forcing people to leave. The worst part of it all is his friend Sam, who is homosexual, is leaving and Grishka can't bear the thought of this.

Unfortunately, something got lost in the translation between Russian and English. The story drags on about whether or not Grishka is homosexual or not and in the end the reader still not quite sure. It does deal with the homophobia situations that are found in the States, but leaves the reader still questioning what is really going on. The author does do a nice job in describing what puppet theater life is really like and the descriptions enable a good visual while reading.

Recommended reading level would be upper middle school to high school. The book does deal with homosexuality and could be used to compare how homosexuality is dealt with in another country.

Overall Book Score: fair