Each time I put my weight on a fresh dagger, my heart went into my mouth.

I was in grade 8 when I first read Cue for Treason, which was assigned by my English teacher.  While I rarely put any effort into doing the homework, and on occasion not completing the work at all, I read the entire book within the first week and continued to read it over and over and over again throughout semester.  Since grade 8 (that was a pretty long time ago now), I have picked up the book again on occasion to enjoy the adventure again and enter the world that Geoffrey Trease created so well by merging a series of fictional characters in their youth with the backdrop of the actual closing years of the sixteenth century, when there is a plot against Queen Elizabeth.  Trease also weaves a magnificent storyline that incorporates historical figures such as Richard Burbage and William Shakespeare that play a rather major role in the lives of two of characters, Peter and Kit.

From the beginning, you are introduced to a young lad from Cumberland, Peter Brownrigg, who is involved with the rest of the male folk in his community to secretly resist the takeover of some “public” land by a noble by the name of Sir Philip Morton for his own.  Morton has put up a wall around the land and the community has now come together to take it down while Morton and his men are away.  Peter is assigned to be a lookout, and he succeeds in warning his family and neighbours, but succumbs to the irresistible urge to throw a rock at Morton.  This rapidly leads to Peter being declared a criminal and him running away from home to escape capture.  Through a series of twist and turns, a conspiracy plot unravels and thickens as Peter makes new friends and finds new enemies as he is determined to survive.  Peter finds himself amongst a band of actors, and later ends up acting as an official spy for her majesty.  The adventure is thrilling as well as entertaining at times while Trease leaks new information through the story to perhaps unveil how Peter will survive, escape capture and maybe even save the Queen.

I think Cue for Treason was probably one of the first historical fiction novels I read and to this day I continue to enjoy historical fiction.  Geoffrey Trease had done an excellent job of assembling a cast of characters young and old, fictional and real in a past era.  It doesn’t matter whether you’re a fan of Shakespeare and his works or not, because in this book … it’s all about the adventure!

Posted on April 7th, 2007 by Ehren
Filed under: classic, fiction, young adult