(1) YA In this inventive novel that includes elements of verse and script (including some prose in the form of stage directions), McCullough (We Are the Ashes, We Are the Fire, rev. 7/21) reimagines the fates of several of Shakespeare's famous female teen protagonists. In Part One, readers are introduced to Juliet, Ophelia, Cordelia, and Lavinia, who dwell as spectral embodiments in a purgatorial "trap room," the space "beneath all the stages, anywhere." Lavinia, whose tongue is cut out by attackers in one of Shakespeare's first plays, serves as a silent symbol of women who have lost the ability to control their own narratives. Each of the other girls recounts her original plot in verse, up to a pivotal point in the story, in a signature narrative style. Juliet's verse is free and ­passionate, Ophelia's dreamy and verdant, Cordelia's precise and pragmatic. In Part Two, the girls engage in lively dialogue in play form, anachronistically debating one another's motives, feelings, assumptions, and faults, finally coming to the ­question: "What if we dared to tell our versions?" In Part Three, each imagines what would have happened had one crucial aspect of her story been changed, with, for example, spirited Juliet claiming a full happy ending by remaining alive and marrying Romeo. This shifting, experimental format will surprise and challenge readers' ideas of ­storytelling and "classic" literature. By innovatively mining feminist themes of autonomy, exploitation, and patriarchy, McCullough boldly reconceptualizes ­Shakespeare's version of the female point of view for a new generation of Bard enthusiasts.

Reviewer: Jennifer Hubert Swan | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2023

(1) YA In this verse novel set in 2001, tenth grader Omid Soltani isn't comfortable in his own skin. As the child of Iranian immigrants living in Arizona, he feels foreign at school (especially in the post-9/11 climate), but never Persian enough with his family. When his grandparents arrive from Iran and he meets them in person for the first time, he feels "frozen in Farsi" with his stilted fluency, isolated from the very people with whom he most wants a connection. He finds a welcome distraction in being cast as Bottom in the school's production of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, but gets the most laughs when he plays Bottom's lines in his father's accented English, mocking his own culture for a primarily white audience and underscoring why Shakespeare would create a comical, lovable character and "make him a monster" for entertainment. As Omid grows, he learns to find his voice in his own interpretation of Shakespeare and in rap music that uniquely expresses his experiences. Shahi's poetic form sometimes mirrors the subject matter (a music playlist, a theatrical dialogue, a rap flow); there are many underline-worthy lines of free verse. An unpredictable development in the conclusion may have readers reaching for a tissue (and a comforting playlist). This is a compelling coming-of-age story about finding your own voice and holding on to hope in the face of uncertainty and doubt.

Reviewer: Julie Hakim Azzam | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2023

(1) YA High school seniors Luna Chang and Hunter Yee keep crossing paths, and they soon realize that they both have bizarre abilities. Luna can attract fish and fireflies; Hunter has perfect aim, and gusts of wind inexplicably bring money to his feet. While they fall for each other, a strange series of events takes hold of them and their township--beginning with a massive crack that appears in the street one night when the two are alone on a late bus home. As their feelings for each other deepen, they uncover secrets that span generations; most of the third-person narration alternates between Luna and Hunter's points of view, but interspersed chapters from other perspectives provide insight into a longstanding feud between their families. In lush prose, Pan (The Astonishing Color of After, rev. 3/18) retells both the Chinese legend of Chang'e and Houyi and Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The seemingly ordinary setting of "1991, in Fairbridge, Where We Lay Our Scene" opens up to a world full of mystery and magic.

Reviewer: Gabi K. Huesca | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2022

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Alice Lindstrom. Politics, romance, murder, madness, magic--it's all here in this handsome volume of twelve abridged prose retellings of some of the Bard's most famous plays. Each story begins with an iconic quote and a cast of characters in portrait ovals; the text is modernized and accessible. Color-saturated, textural collages lavishly illustrate every spread. End matter includes a complete list of Shakespeare plays.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(3) YA Seventeen-year-old Katherine seeks to avenge her Catholic father's death by masquerading as a male actor to kill Queen Elizabeth I. She and Toby, the closeted-bisexual royal spy charged with foiling the assassination, become mutually attracted while performing the leads in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, a play of disguises, deception, gender, and love. Told via dual first-person narratives, this entertaining historical novel deals with many still-relevant topics. Bib.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(4) YA At Camp Dogberry, sisters Bee and Hana Leonato are tricked by fellow counselors into revealing their feelings for their co-counselor crushes, Ben and Claudia, respectively. The abundant rotating perspectives can get a bit confusing, but the rustic Maine summer camp makes a lively backdrop for all the tangled alliances in Booth's clever retelling of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(4) YA Moss and her sorcerer father are shipwrecked on an island in a world swallowed by floods. As Pa gathers magical stormflowers to harness the weather, Moss falls for wild boy Callan and discovers a world contrary to Pa's stories. Character development is thin and hyphenated descriptors are overused, but this atmospheric story--inspired by Shakespeare's The Tempest--emphasizes the scrim between reality and dreams.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(4) YA Aurora and her now-boyfriend Hayden's budding relationship is tested as Aurora's matchmaking "Find a Prince/Princess program" debuts at school and as she struggles with her mother's abandonment. With characters and miscommunications straight out of a squeaky-clean rom-com film, fans of predecessor How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You will enjoy this conventional yet charming sequel chock-full of literature references.

Reviewer: Amy Seto Forrester

(3) 4-6 Seventh grader Cooper Vega discovers his new cellphone is haunted by an Elizabethan ghost named Roderick, who claims he's the true author of Romeo and Juliet. Coincidentally, the play is being performed at Cooper's new school. Themes of bullying and belonging give this entertaining read some heft, but Korman's trademark humor is always evident, especially when Roderick gives Cooper romantic advice.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(3) 1-3 Illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds. Stink heads to Shakespeare Camp over spring break (the only boy attending, it turns out). Stink's in it for the Shakespearean insults and swordplay, but he learns that there is also kissing in Shakespeare's plays. Stink won't have to kiss his "sometimes friend, most times enemy" Riley Rottenberger, will he?! Reynolds's illustrations capture all the theatrics in this spirited chapter-book introduction to Shakespeare.

Reviewer: Kari Allen

(3) 4-6 Can two unlikely sixth-grade friends save the world from mind- and body-controlling cephalopod-like aliens in time to star in the middle-school play? With a diverse cast of characters, gross-out humor, and just a dash of Shakespeare, this zany yet heartfelt sci-fi adventure set in a small coastal town near Seattle will thrill fans of Adam Rex.

Reviewer: Amy Seto Forrester

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Lauren Gallegos. A cheesemonger's son and a fruit-seller's daughter are forbidden to communicate since their feuding families find each other's products unappetizing. But when Rubio and Julienne collide during their deliveries, the mishap results in the delicious pairing of fruit and cheese--and a collaborative new business. The amusing epicurean story makes a few tongue-in-cheek Shakespearean references, and the cartoony illustrations appear set in Italy. Recipes appended.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Mercè López. The book's editor, Shakespearean scholar Tassi, culls thirty-one of the Bard's most famous sonnets, soliloquies, and other verses that underscore the universality of themes such as love, jealousy, power, revenge, and death. Each selection includes unfamiliar vocabulary defined on the page and a concise appended summary. López's evocative, loose-lined illustrations are somewhat dreamy but help bring meaning to the text. An engaging and accessible entrée to Shakespeare. Ind.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(3) YA Senior Megan Harper, an aspiring theater director with a string of ex-boyfriends, embodies Shakespeare's line "the course of true love never did run smooth." Yet during her school's production of Romeo and Juliet, she slowly realizes that her unconventional aspiring-playwright friend Owen might just be her own Romeo. Theater culture takes center stage in this flirty and entertaining romance told in Megan's spunky first-person voice.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(3) YA Two teens grapple with profound loss: Damon's best friend committed suicide and Melanie's mother died from cancer. Through artistic endeavors--photography (Damon), painting (Melanie), and acting in a school production of Othello (both)--each forges a path through complex grief and a romantic relationship soon develops. Dual first-person narratives heighten emotional intimacy in this deft, sensitive exploration of loss and healing.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(4) 4-6 Fakespeare series. Illustrated by Daniel Jennewein. Two fifth graders find themselves sucked into Shakespeare plays and must help complete the story before they can return to their own lives. Warring pizza-making families (Romeo and Juliet) and kings launching stink bombs to obscure evil acts (Hamlet) take center stage in these wacky riffs on the Bard's works. The frenetic stories are filled with juvenile humor and childlike cartoon drawings. Review covers these Fakespeare titles: Something Stinks in Hamlet and Starcrossed in Romeo and Juliet.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(4) 4-6 Fakespeare series. Illustrated by Daniel Jennewein. Two fifth graders find themselves sucked into Shakespeare plays and must help complete the story before they can return to their own lives. Warring pizza-making families (Romeo and Juliet) and kings launching stink bombs to obscure evil acts (Hamlet) take center stage in these wacky riffs on the Bard's works. The frenetic stories are filled with juvenile humor and childlike cartoon drawings. Review covers these Fakespeare titles: Something Stinks in Hamlet and Starcrossed in Romeo and Juliet.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(3) YA Eighth-grade theater girl Mattie finds herself playing Romeo opposite Gemma, her first girl-crush. Mattie struggles with her feelings: Does liking this one girl make her a lesbian? What happens if her classmates find out? The ending leaves Gemma's intentions toward Mattie fuzzy. It's refreshing to see a same-sex relationship featured in a light middle-school romp with clever (if not very deep) parallels to Romeo and Juliet.

Reviewer: Amy Seto Forrester

(3) YA Beatrice longs to study medicine; Benedick imagines himself a writer. Hero wants to protect her father, and Claude just wants Hero. Shakespeare fans will recognize these characters from Much Ado About Nothing, but George sets their romantic frustrations amid a foundering speakeasy. A carefully crafted retelling dedicated to both capturing the nuances of Shakespeare's play and creating an accurate Prohibition-era setting. Author's note. Bib.

Reviewer: Megan Lynn Isaac

(4) 4-6 Batman & Robin Crime Scene Investigations series. Illustrated by Dario Brizuela. Batman and Robin use their scientific knowledge of fingerprint analysis (Thieves) and fire investigation (Flames) to track down stolen volumes of Shakespeare and catch an arsonist, respectively. Cartoon illustrations and mildly engaging mysteries add interest to this mid-elementary series, but the scientific explanations feel rather forced and the font is small. "More About" pages are appended to each. Reading list. Glos., ind. Review covers these Batman & Robin Crime Scene Investigations titles: The Felon's Fowl Flames and The Prints of Thieves.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz