Win Namesake Portrayed By Sue MacLeod Shared As Electronic Format

history mixed with fiction sometimes are the neatest of novels, This was heartbreaking and cute, I loved the adventure of the past and present, It was a miracle and fun to think of people with the exact first and last name, I loved every second of reading this book, I loved in each chapter a word and description would be used, It started with a history project, Mr. Gregor assigned a research paper on a figure from the Tudor era, and of course Jane Grey had to pick her namesakeLady Jane Grey, the fifteenyearold girl whose parents schemed to place her on the throne of England, then abandoned her to face the executioner.
The project is engrossing from the start, but when Jane opens a mysterious prayer book and finds herself in the Tower of London in, she ends up literally drawn into her namesakes story.
Soon, Jane is slipping into the past whenever the present becomes too unbearable, avoiding her mothers demands, her best friends fickleness, her crushs indifference.
In the Tower she plays chess with the imprisoned Lady Jane, awed by her new friends strength and courage, And it is in the Tower, keeping vigil as the day of the execution draws near, that Jane learns that she, too, must have the courage to fight for her own happiness.
I thought that is book was very well done, I loved all of the historical facts about Lady Jane Grey and the Tower of London in the mids.
It just makes me want to go London even more now, The ending was even great, even though I want it to be different, Originally posted at sitelink blogs

In currentday Halifax, teen Jane Grey and fellow classmates in her Advanced Placement History are embarking on their research projects and it would seem obvious that she would focus on her Namesake, Lady Jane Grey.


Just a bit of a history lesson for those unfamiliar with the Nine Days Queen, In, due to the machinations of her parents and the Duke of Northumberland, Lady Jane Grey was made heir to the King of England, Edward VI.
She had already wed the son of the Duke of Northumberland, so when Edward VI passed, the Duke declared Lady Jane to be Queen of England, sure that he could control the throne through her.
However, according to succession, Lady Jane's cousin Mary, King Edward VI's halfsister and King Henry VIII's daughter, would be next Queen.
Imprisoned until the arrival of soontobe Queen Mary I, Lady Jane was hopeful of a pardon because becoming Queen had never been her intention.
However, with her parents and the Duke playing the odds with her against Mary, and because her strong belief in her Protestant faith conflicted with Mary's Catholicism, a pardon was not granted and Lady Jane was executed.


In the twentyfirst century, Jane discovers a small book called Booke of Prayre while unpacking her backpack of library books.
Reading aloud from it, Jane is transported mysteriously to the environs of the Tower of London, eavesdropping on two women, Mistress Tilney and Mistress Ellen gossiping about "our lady.
" Repeated visits tohas Jane making the acquaintance of Lady Jane Grey and learning of her fate, her hopes, her regrets and her position on her faith.
Knowing what historically happened to Lady Jane, Jane wonders about her purpose in being sent back, Was she to help the Lady convert to Catholicism Was she to help Lady Grey escape Or was she there simply to provide her with companionship

Dealing with her own tenuous situation at home, Jane is sympathetic to Lady Jane's dilemma, recognizing the similarity in the extent of their dire circumstances and inability to change them.
Since the death of her father, Jane has come to recognize that her mother Analise works in one of three modes: Mode One is Single Mother as Hero Mode Two is the Nothing mode and Mode Three is Hell.
Though a competent English professor, Analise harbours much anger related to her husband's death, and deals with it using alcohol which just exacerbates her mood swings and colours her interactions with Jane.
Not surprising that Jane has concerns when her history group must meet at eachother's homes for study and editing sessions.
And with best friend Megan hanging out with the tactless Crisco and wrapped up in a boyfriend situation, Jane is feeling more and more isolated and unable to find support.
For Jane, slipping back intogives her an opportunity to exert some control,

While Namesake may be initially seen as a standard timeslip novel, with a contemporary character going back in time to learn something which she could apply to her own life, the book goes beyond this by Jane trying to take an active role in Lady Jane's situation, even to the point of altering history if need be.
Jane educates Lady Jane on the vernacular and popular culture of her Halifax and Canada, And while Lady Jane does begin to try out some of her new vocabulary, she uses it as a

foreign language, not dropping the occasional work into her own speech.
Sue MacLeod has given Lady Jane a voice so authentic that her use of newlyacquired vocabulary provides for some muchneeded humour.
Her voice is true and melodic, never wavering from that of a sixteenthcentury young woman,

I am especially pleased by the direction the author takes Jane's time slip, allowing for the two young women, just sixteen, to share their lives and their stories, and Jane anticipating bringing Lady Jane back with her.
But, when Lady Jane does slip into Jane's time, it spurs a new relationship between Jane and her neighbour, the elderly woman she has nicknamed Mrs.
Lynde à la Green Gables, who surprisingly becomes her salvation,

The history is true, the twists unique and the touches of humour and romance are heartwarming, And Namesake still delivers an open ending that takes the reader to a more hopeful situation than Lady Jane's true horrific ending.
In presentday Halifax, Jane Grey begins her AP history project, Shes assigned to research and report on an historical figure, It seems only natural that she should choose to do it on her namesake, Lady Jane Grey, who inwas the queen of England for nine days before being beheaded.

While emptying her backpack, Jane finds an ancient Booke of Prayre which belonged to Lady Jane, Although she doesnt remember putting it in there, she opens it out of curiosity and reading it aloud is surprised to find herself back inin the Tower of London.
There she meets her namesake, the Lady Jane Grey, who is being held prisoner while awaiting her execution,
As the two become closer, Jane begins to make more frequent trips into the past, not only to visit her namesake, but to escape her controlling, alcoholic mother.
Students of history will know how Lady Janes story ends, but the clever plot device of time travel will leave readers guessing until the last page.
This is a wellwritten, captivating story with a character driven plot, Recommended for gradesand up,
ed by: Laura Lieske, Youth Services, Vernon Area Public Library
NAMESAKE was an interesting story full of small smiles, historical references, and touching moments.

The two Jane's were charming and written well to draw you into their lives, I enjoyed the element of time travel and the troubles it presented for each Jane in each time, Though I knew the ending would be heartbreaking, it was handled in a delicate and unique fashion, I recommend this to lovers of historical fiction and YA fiction alike, Unless you are familiar with that time period, you will be lost! Most YA will be lost! Namesake is a beautifully written story about Jane, a teen who is forced to tolerate the tyranny of an erratic, alcoholic mother.
At first, she finds solace by travelling back in time to meet the subject and namesake of her school history project: Lady Jane Grey, Queen of England fordays in.
But Jane soon realizes that the similarity between the two girls isn't just in name: it's in life prognosis, Lady Jane is about to be executed, and Jane Well, she may as well die if she can't break free from her mother.


Though Sue MacLeod puts aside her poet hat to write this debut novel, you'd think she'd been writing novels forever.
Just the right amount of history, poetry and tension puts this timetravelling novel in a category of it's own: is it fantasy It doesn't feel like it.
MacLeod writes so clearly, in touch with every element of wonder that might come with time travel, that I forgot it was a fantasy novel.


This would be a great class read for high school English, Lots to discuss!
Namesake was a great book, This is the story about two people,

Jane Gray is in high school and has to do a history project on someone who lived long ago.
When Jane comes home from the library with a few options for her project, she notices that there is a book in her bag that she didn't sign out.
This book was called :Book of Prayre, Jane soon finds out this is no ordinary book, As soon as Jane starts to read it she is literally pulled into the story, At first Jane thinks that she is dreaming this, but she is some how back in theth century right in the Lady Jane's Quarters.
Shocked and confused how this could be happening Jane just thinks that she is dreaming, On this "visit" you could say Lady Jane is being held captive in her castle being told she has to marry someone that she doesn't love.
At first Lady Jane thinks that Jane is there as an angel from God there to save her from this marriage that she is being forced into.
Jane tries to explain to her that she is from thest century and she's not sure how she got there.

Jane soon realizes that she gets pulled back home whenever some noise goes on,

Lady Jane and Jane soon build a friendship that they seem to help each other out, Jane feels bad because she knows exactly the fate of Lady Jane and she wants to find away to save her.
Jane is able to get Lady Jane into our time but like in her case over there she couldn't control how long she was able to stay.


Whenever Lady Jane and Jane are together they are always curious about how each other lives is in their time.
Lady Jane is extremely curious about how Jane dresses and how there are lights that come on with switches,

As you read through the book you can really see the bond that comes together between Lady Jane and Jane.


Sadly though, Jane is unable to get Jane back to her time and she was indeed hung to her death on Tower Green on February.


This book also goes into some detail on the fact that Jane Grey's mom had some drinking issues and made family life very hard for Jane.
Jane never knew what kind of mood to expect her mom to be in each day, Reading and exscaping into Lady Jane's life was like a bit of freedom from her mom, Her mom had good days which Jane loved, her mom was happy to be around always interested in how Jane's day was and Jane felt like she had a real mom.

Then there were days where her mom would either yell at her for no reason or just simply disappear for hours on end going to bars and getting drunk.

At the end unfortunately her drinking had caused so many problems that Jane couldn't handle living with her anymore.
At the end it wasn't totally clear what happened between her and her mom, but it showed that other people knew what was going on, and that she wasn't alone anymore.
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