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Young
Adult Literature Relating to Shakespeare’s Works |
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Draper, Sharon.
Romiette and Julio. New York: Atheneum
Books for Young Readers, 1999. This story is a modern day
version of Shakespeare’s Romeo and
Juliet. It tells the story of two sixteen
year olds, Romiette and Julio, who actually first
meet talking in an internet chat room.
They soon, of course, realize they go to the same high school in Cincinnati
and meet in person and fall in love.
However, due to the fact Romiette is
African-American and Julio is the new Hispanic kid in town, the relationship
is not approved of by the local gang members of the Devildogs.
This modern take on Shakespeare’s story obviously involves racial issues that
are present in today’s society. The
two young lovers end up being kidnapped by the gang members. However, the author provides a modern
happy ending, as the young soul mates are found alive and the gang members
are arrested. Students who have a hard
time relating to Shakespeare’s Romeo
and Juliet, due to its time period would probably enjoy this more modern
take on the play. |
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Fieldler, Lisa. Romeo’s Ex: Rosaline’s Story. New York: Henry Holt, 2006. This is a re-telling of the
play Romeo and Juliet mainly from
the perspective of Rosaline, the brief object of Romeo’s affection mentioned
early in the play. This would be a good book for students and teachers to
examine during the study of play, in order to discuss point of view and how
it can impact a story. The author portrays Rosaline as a determined girl,
studying to be a healer. In this
version of the story, she meets Romeo when he brings a friend to her who is
in need of healing. Although, he likes
her at this first meeting, he ends up becoming infatuated with her cousin Juliet
and Rosaline ends up becoming involved with Benvolio.
The story is told mainly from Rosaline’s point of view, but also has
narration from other characters, including Tybalt
(as a ghost he narrates scenes between Romeo and Juliet). The author basically uses the general plot
of Shakespeare’s original play, but creatively adds details and situations. Overall,
it is much lighter in mood than its original and less romantic, but it sticks
to the fast paced prose of the play. Students
who are intrigued by the briefly mentioned Rosaline at the beginning of Romeo and Juliet might want to read
this book. This book offers a strong female character in Rosaline, as she is
determined to become a healer and the love that develops between her and Benvolio is more realistic compared to that of the
impulsive lovers Romeo and Juliet. |
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Hassinger, Peter W. Shakespeare’s Daughter. New York:
Laura Geringer Books, 2004. This fictionalized novel
follows the path of Shakespeare’s oldest daughter Susanna, as she desires to become
a singer in London. This book is a coming of age story of a young girl,
struggling to find her place in a time when women did not have that many
career opportunities as the story is set in Elizabethan England. The book could give students a glance of
what it might have been like for a woman interested in pursuing a career in
performance back in Shakespeare’s time, when all the roles were played by
men. Susanna also deals with first
love and finding out her father has been unfaithful to her mother. Therefore, this book deals with many themes
that students can relate to as well as social issues that were present in
Shakespeare’s time, such as religious matters and the limited roles women
held. The book also uses real facts
for some of its plot. For example,
fourteen year old Susanna decides to leave home to pursue her dream when her
younger brother Hamnet dies. |
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Lester, Julius.
Othello: A Novel. New York: Scholastic, 1995. Julius Lester, an author of
books on slavery and African-American history, retells the story of
Shakespeare’s Othello, putting it
in novel form. He sets the story in
sixteenth century England and even changes the race of the characters Iago and Emilia (Emily in this
novel) to black like Othello. He
explores the racial elements of the play more in this novel version. This novel keeps the overall basic plot of
Shakespeare’s play. However, due to
its novel form it is much easier to read than the original play. This novel could be read or parts of it examined
along with the study of Shakespeare’s Othello,
raising discussion questions about setting, characterization and racial
elements. |
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Ortiz, Michael J.
Swan Town: The Secret Journal
of Susanna Shakespeare. New York:
HarperCollins, 2006. This main character of this
book is, of course, Shakespeare’s oldest daughter Susanna. Susanna is simply tired of not being able
to do what she wants, which most teenagers can probably relate to despite the
different time period it takes places in.
In this story of Susanna, she is frustrated over the fact her parents
will not let her see a Puritan boy and she is not allowed to practice the
religion she wants to practice (Catholicism).
So she writes in a journal as a way of expressing her anger and also ends
up writing a play. This is an interesting book, as it mainly shows
Shakespeare in the role of father, as Susanna attempts to become her own
person and even tries to become an actor.
In short, it writes about the life and times of Shakespeare, through
the lens of his teenaged daughter who is upset with the restrictions on her
life in this time period. |
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Ranufo.
Joker. New York: Joanna
Cotler Books, 2006. This is a modern take on
Shakespeare’s play Hamlet. It tells the story of teenager Matt, as he
deals with the suicide of his best friend and his parents divorce. The title of the book refers to his alter
ego. Matt struggles to find love and
meaning in his life as his alter ego, Joker, voices crazy ideas and thoughts
in his head. Set in a modern world of
text messaging and beach parties, the introduction of this book to students could
show them how easily Shakespeare’s work transcends time periods, as the
issues and themes his work consists of are timeless. |
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Williams, Marcia.
Tales from Shakespeare:
Seven Plays. Cambridge, Mass: Candlewick Press, 1998. This is actually a
retelling of several of Shakespeare’s plays in a comic book format. Among the plays retold is the famously
known Romeo and Juliet. This type of book could be helpful for
students who are more visual learners or struggle with reading the language
of Shakespeare’s time, due to learning difficulties as it provides comic book
illustrations along with plot summaries.
It could be used within the unit study of a particular play and/or the
teacher could read one of the comic book tales to the class after completing
the study of one of Shakespeare’s plays, which would open discussion about
the different ways Shakespeare’s plays have been presented to audiences over
the years. |
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Picture
Books |
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“Using the picture book format is…a great way to lure readers into a particular genre or theme by introducing the work through the integration of reading, writing, speaking, and listening…Furthermore, students become increasingly curious by the apparent ‘ease’ of the story, allowing for more discussion of motive, theme, and character among students themselves.” ~Tabers-Kwak and Kaufman, “Shakespeare through the Lens of a New Age” Check out several versions of the story in picture books, then create your own picture book for the play as a class or in groups! |
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A retelling of the story of
Romeo and Juliet with the use of
nicely done illustrations, provided by Dennis Nolan. This book is aimed for use in the middle
school or high school. |
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A very abridged version of
the play with lovely scenes of Verona. |
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Biographical picture book
that sets the context for Shakespeare’s life. |
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Beautiful images,
paraphrased prose, and lines quoted directly from the text fill this picture
book, aimed toward middle and high school students. |
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A biography of Shakespeare
with a strong background in historical research |
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A young Irish girl and
Polish boy overcome conflict between their families as they grow up and fall
in love. A story of star-crossed
lovers with a positive twist. |
