″‘To be struck down,
Pierced by sword i’ the heart, from a hero’s hand!′
That I had dreamed. O mockery of Fate!
—Killed, I! of all men—in an ambuscade!
Struck from behind, and by a lackey’s hand!
‘Tis very well. I am foiled, foiled in all,
Even in my death.”
“The way to outsmart death, Elisa dear, is to turn into something else, says Elisa’s grandmother, an actress with a flair for the dramatic. But when it seems as if Nonna might actually be changing literally, Elisa must uncover a series of mysteries.”
Children relate to Shane automatically (due to his being around 8 – 10 years old) and can relate to the fear of being on the one hand stubborn (as many children are at that age!) and on the other hand unable to support oneself and needing the security of your parents.
The boy living on the streets, seeking companionship and the need to protect (possibly the way he wasn’t), jealousy of a well looked after cat with a home, the use of crumbled up (thrown away) paper at the beginning and end of the book.