My word, this is a fantastic book. If you want a book about Shakespeare or the 1960s or growing up or teachers or escaped rats, this is the book for you.
The pacing of this book is perfect and the character development is superb. At first, I kind of hated Holling Hoodhood. He's obnoxious and immature and he thinks everyone is out to get him. But as the book went on, he grew on me. And he grew up. And by the end, I adored him. The mixture of 1960s historical events and Shakespeare was brilliant. I loved seeing how the plays would be incorporated into Holling's learning and the parallels he'd find with his life.
Every seventh grader should read this book.