Romeo And Juliet, Redux

Kate Davies is looking for YA novels that reflect or parallel Romeo and Juliet, with or without the tragic death at the end (and, I would hope, without the wishywashy bonerdeath that is ol’ Romeo):

I’m a former English teacher who’s signing up for a class on Modern Literature in the Classroom to keep my certification up to date. One of the requirements of the class is to read 8 books published in the last thirty years, with an eye toward using them in the classroom. I’ve always paired Romeo and Juliet with a book study, using multiple books that connect with the themes of the play in some way. Sad to say, though, my “kid-friendly” reading list is woefully out of date.

So I’m looking for suggestions for YA books—romance, preferably, but outside the genre is fine—that have R & J themes in them. Forbidden love, parental disapproval, family rivalry, different worlds…anything goes!

Part of the unit for the book study is for students to identify how the book is related to R&J, so more tangential connections would make it more of a challenge for them. (And more interesting for me, because reading eight retellings of R & J in a row could get a little old.)

Got any ideas? And what’s the best interpretation of Romeo and Juliet that you’ve seen? Or, do you prefer the original?

 

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  1. Lisa Hendrix says:

    Rent

    Both are Romeo and Juliet modernized to the 1950’s and the 1990’s.

    I believe the source material for Rent is actually La Bohéme, which is itself from Henry Mürger’s [i[Scènes de la vie Bohème.

    There’s a short story by Evan Hunter that makes a great lead-in for R&J called “On the Sidewalk Bleeding.” You can find it here:

    http://theliterarylink.com/sidewalk.html

  2. Tam says:

    I’m not sure if anyone mentioned it but try the book Romiette and Julio by Sharon M. Draper.

  3. Moth says:

    Personally, my favorite adaptation is “The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns” mini-series. Leprechauns are the Montagues and “Trooping Fairies” are the Capulets.

    Genius. Pure genius.

    I can’t really think of any books. I can, of course, think of about a dozen movies…

  4. poohba says:

    I was the only one in my class who said the blame belonged to the two stupid gits in the title.

    I wholeheartedly agree!  I used to think Romeo & Juliet was the epitome of TRUE LURVE – until I got into 9th grade and actually read it!  My reaction was the same as yours:  Beautiful poetry wasted on a couple of dumb kids in love with love.  (I had the same reaction when I read Twilight, by the way.)

    I do think Shakespeare in Love is a fun movie, though.

  5. Anya says:

    It’s not a book, but an anime came out last year in Japan (and will be coming out in the ‘States in June) called Romeo x Juliet, and it’s the only take on the play I’ve ever really liked. ‘Course, that might have had something to do with the fact that it took place on the floating island of Neo-Verona and the evil Lord Montague has slaughtered all the Capulets except one, and now that she’s 16 she’s disguised herself as a sort of Zorro character to encourage the oppressed townspeople to rise up. Oh, and all the lords get to ride flying ponies.

    It’s good, honest! The music is beautiful (here’s the opening), and if you know any other Shakespeare plays, you’ll get a kick out of seeing minor characters named everything from Ophelia to William himself.

  6. Becky says:

    “Flying into the Sun,” by Ginger Blymyer.  Fantastic book that contains romance with plots around the world.  I always want to travel after reading this book.

  7. Tambra says:

    Twilight.
    Stephanie Meyers used the Romeo and Juliet theme for the book.

    Apologies if someone else already posted this.

    Hugs,
    Tambra

  8. SonomaLass says:

    Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) by Ann-Marie MacDonald is actually a play, not a novel.  A wonderful feminist piece about standing up for yourself (as women in Shakespeare’s tragedies generally don’t) and illustrating how easily tragedy can become comedy.  One of the best plays I every directed! I suspect is would be a real challenge in a lit class (especially with teenagers), and there are some risky lesbian passages (some teachers would have to worry about that, sad to say).  But students would love the “non-love scene” between Romeo and Juliet, after their suicides have been averted: they fight over petty things, and it becomes very clear that their “undying love” is just teenager infatuation, which isn’t going to last if they live instead of dying.

    My son has a t-shirt that says “And then Buffy staked Edward.  The End.”  Many of the girls hate it; one even cried.

  9. LizC says:

    My son has a t-shirt that says “And then Buffy staked Edward. The End.”

    Hahaha! I want that shirt. I haven’t even read the books and I want that shirt.

  10. Kate Davies says:

    I knew I could count on the Bitchery for help! Thanks, everyone, for the great suggestions and fun discussion of Shakespeare. I now have a big stack of books ready to read and more on the way. What a way to earn 3 credits and keep my certification!

    Thanks again!

  11. Kate Davies says:

    Thanks, SonomaLass! I knew it sounded familiar, but not as a novel. I think I did a monologue from that play way back when.

  12. Sara says:

    How about SHABANU, DAUGHTER OF THE WIND by Suzanne Staples?  A terrific book, and lots of subtle R & J parallels.

    I loved this book when I was in middle school!  I swear that I read it at least 60 times.  I never considered R&J references in the story, but looking back (based on what I remember after all these years) it could work.  Thanks for reminding me of this story- I’ll have to go find it again!

  13. Jamie says:

    Some people have already mentioned Saving Juliet, which was my main option, so I’ll let it go. This isn’t a Romeo and Juliet story, but in the same vein: Meg Cabot’s Avalon High is a retelling of Arthurian mythology set in a modern high school. It is one of my favorite books, and I just cannot pass up the opportunity to reccommend it. If you are looking for good paralell, how about Tristan and Isolde? And, if you want to tell a real-life tragic love story, google Abelard and Heloise. Both are infinitely cooler than Romeo and Juliet.

    It’s too bad Buffy is a show and not a book- the Buffy/Angel love story was one of the most finely wrought, gorgeously written examples of “star-crossed lovers’ that I have ever seen. The Twilight love is, like everything else about that series, a washed out, way-worse imitation of Buffy. I really want the T-Shirt mentioned above.

    On the Twilight note, does anybody else find it hilariously ironic that Bella mentions that Wuthering Heights is her favorite book and goes on about how romantic it is? I mean, when Heathcliff is a psychotic, deranged stalker with an obsessive, creepy style of lovin’ just like certain vamps who shall remain nameless? I don’t think SMeyer meant for THAT to be the parallel, it was probably supposed to be “ZOMG Edward is all like romanitc and stuff just like Heathcliff!!!!11!!! However, if you actually read Wuthering Heights rather than taking off some random booklist of the “Top Ten Romantic Heroes”, you see that Heathcliff is…not all he is portrayed to be by the media. In fact, until it was discovered that “Currer Bell” was a woman, Wuthering Heights was considered to be an adventure and (somewhat) a horror book, and no one even thought about classifying it as a romance. There ya go, though…

  14. Liz says:

    Romeo’s Ex: Rosalind’s Story by Lisa Fiedler
    West Side Story by Irving Shulman
    Falling for Romeo by Jennifer Laurens (h/h cast as Romeo and Juliet)
    The Juliet Club by Suzanne Harper
    Saving Juliet by Suzanne Selfors
    Romiette and Julio by Sharon M. Draper and Adam Lowenbein
    Street Love by Walter Dean Myers
    Son of the Mob by Gordon Korman

    I haven’t read any of these (although I have seen West Side Story), but they all looked interesting on amazon.

  15. Mandy says:

    This suggestion may be a bit to easy, depending on the reading level of the students, but Twilight by Stephanie Meyer is a Romeo and Juliet story. Two teens from opposing families (this time humans vs. vampires) fall in love impossibly fast, overcome obstacles, and even has a new-ish take on the death scene (she has to die ((become vampire)) to be with him forever.) However, you’ll need to read only book one. From two on the story becomes to distorted to clearly be an update R&J story.

  16. Angela says:

    Malorie Blackman’s awesome, spectacular Naughts & Crosses series. It’s Romeo and Juliet set in a dystopian world where blacks are the elite and whites are at the bottom.

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