CLASSIC CANON TEXT:

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Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare

The original, tragic tale of star crossed lovers endures as a mainstay in high school reading curricula. Written in early modern or Shakespearean English, its linguistics are as complex as the plot and characters. The children of prominent feuding families fall suddenly and hopelessly in love, enacting a doomed plan to fake death and escape, only to have it find them in the end.

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Themes: Forbidden love, fate, societal rules, revenge, and forgiveness. 

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Literary devices: Foreshadowing, metaphor, and irony.

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YOUNG ADULT TEXTS: 

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1. The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

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This book is an artful and relevant updated story of star crossed lovers. Main characters Natasha, part of a Jamaican family in the process of being deported, and Daniel, son of a Korean immigrant family that wants him to be a doctor, meet by chance and this is the story of their fate. 

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Readers will find this contemporary story culturally relevant, engaging, and accessible. 

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2. The Fault in Our Stars by John Greene

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This contemporary bestseller tugs at the hallmark heartstrings we expect from star-crossed lovers as two teens with terminal cancer navigate joy, love, and loss. 

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Fate and destiny are strong themes in this accessible and easily readable book with a plot that echoes Romeo and Juliet. 

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3. They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera

Two young men, both fated to die, find each other as they live out their last day. This is a modern and lovely book about friendship, love, fate, and loss.

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LGBTQ+ readers will find representation in this love story.

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4. If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson

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Brilliant and award-winning author Jacqueline Woodson delivers a story about a first love between two fifteen-year-olds: one is white and one is black. They struggle with society's treatment of them as an interracial couple.

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The couple's barriers to love echo those in Romeo and Juliet, but give readers can connect with and relate to modern issues of race in society more easily and meaningfully than with Shakespeare's feuding clans. 

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5. He Said She Said by Kwame Alexander

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"Sparks will fly in this hip-hop-hot teen novel that mixes social protest and star-crossed romance" (kwamealexander.com). Alexander's energetic writing gives voice to two very different teens whose fates collide as they navigate leading social change together. 

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Kwame Alexander is an educator, author, and speaker who has won numerous awards and provides beautiful writing and cultural affirmation to Black students. 

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