Lots of you are studying Romeo and Juliet with me at the moment - the story of two teenage lovers destroyed by their families, their society and the prejudice at its core. This week, unusually, I am recommending TWO books - both based loosely on the story behind Shakespeare's play, and all written specifically for a teenage audience. So these books should be instantly accessible; they should enrich your understanding of the play; but they are also, in themselves, prize-winningly powerful pieces of contemporary fiction, and well worth a read.
Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman
Sephy and Callum have been best friends since childhood, and now they are older and they realise they want more from each other. But the harsh realities of lives lived in a segregated society are beginning to take their toll: Callum is a nought - a second-class citizen in a world dominated by the Crosses - and Sephy is a Cross, and the daughter of one of the most powerful men in the country. The barriers they would have to cross to be together at first seem little more than minor obstacles to the two idealistic teenagers, but soon those barriers threaten not only their friendship but their lives.
Click here to visit the author's website, and click here for an online review by a 12-year-old reader.
Caught in the Crossfire by Alan Gibbons
Set in a Northern town, where right-wingers are determined to stir up hatred and racial prejudice, this novel is about six teenagers: Rabia and Tahir, who are both British Muslims; Daz and Jason, two teenagers with racist views looking for trouble; and, most importantly, Mike and Liam, who are both on different sides. Their lives are woven together by a series of shocking and tragic events, and, in the midst of it all, Mike and Rabia fall in love. Inspired by the Oldham riots and the events of September 11th, it is a chilling account of what is happening in Britain today.
Click here for a review of the book from The Guardian, and click here for an online review by a 12-year-old reader.
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