Getting Started With Romiette And Julio By Sharon Draper
I picked up Romiette And Julio By Sharon Draper a few years ago for a book club, and honestly it stuck with me more than most titles I've read. It's Sharon Draper's take on Shakespeare, but transplanted to Brooklyn Heights in Cleveland where two teens from rival neighborhoods cross paths and try to figure out what love actually means when everyone around you has already decided how it should go. The novel itself runs about 140 pages with short chapters, which makes it feel quick even though the content hits heavy. You can get the paperback through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or your local bookstore. The ISBN is 9781416933472. If you're looking for the ebook version, it's available on Kindle and Apple Books. Audible has an unabridged audiobook narration that works well if you'd rather listen. For schools and libraries, the text is frequently stocked through Scholastic orders. I ran into a snag one time ordering the paperback for a classroom set of 30 copies. The distributor had only 15 in stock and quoted six weeks for the rest. I ended up splitting the order between the school supply company and a local independent bookstore, and I got the rest within a week. It's not a rare book, but bulk orders sometimes hit timing issues depending on the season.
What the Book Actually Covers
Romiette and Julio follows the classic structure of Romeo and Juliet but with characters who are Black teenagers navigating gang territory, family expectations, and social media in modern-day Cleveland. Julio is from a rough neighborhood with ties to a local crew, and Romiette's family is protective because they've seen what happens when outsiders move into their area. They meet at a community center, trade numbers, and try to keep their relationship quiet while everything around them threatens to blow up. The novel uses dual perspectives, alternating between Julio and Romiette, which gives you access to their internal thoughts separately. There are also brief sections that echo Shakespeare's language without being full playscript. Draper drops in occasional phrases that recall the original text, like the balcony scene adapted into a phone call between the two leads. The style is accessible but not dumbed down. Middle school readers get the plot immediately, and high schoolers tend to catch the thematic layers I missed on my first read.
Why People Assign or Recommend This Book
Teachers gravitate toward it because it works as an entry point into Shakespeare without requiring students to read the full play first. The parallel structure makes the connections obvious. Students who would normally bounce off iambic pentameter often find themselves engaged because the emotional beats are identical and the language is modern. After finishing Romiette and Julio, a lot of students are curious enough to look at the actual Romeo and Juliet text. The social themes are handled directly. Bullying, colorism within the community, gang pressure, family loyalty, and the consequences of violence all show up naturally in the narrative rather than feeling like a checklist. I've seen younger readers have honest conversations about these topics for the first time after reading it, which is more than I can say for a lot of the canonical texts we push at this age group.
Common Pitfalls When Using This Text
One issue that comes up repeatedly is assuming the book covers everything in Shakespeare's original. It doesn't. Tybalt doesn't appear as a character in the same way. Mercutio is absent. The framing is tighter and more contemporary, so if you're building a curriculum that requires direct parallel coverage, you'll need to supplement with the play itself or supplementary materials. I learned that the hard way when a colleague expected the novel to replace Romeo and Juliet entirely and then was frustrated when students couldn't answer questions about Act 3 Scene 1 because those events never happened in Draper's version. Another issue is pacing. The novel moves fast. Chapters are short and the plot accelerates quickly toward the climax. Some classrooms need to slow the reading down with discussion prompts embedded between chapters. Other readers finish it in a single sitting and then struggle to do anything productive with it afterward because they haven't had room to process the heavier moments. I usually space it out over two weeks with a discussion day in the middle, and that tends to work better than cramming it into three or four days.
Advanced Notes for Educators and Book Clubs
If you're pairing this with the actual Shakespeare play, don't just assign both and hope for the best. The connections matter more than the comparison. Ask students to map character parallels, then discuss why Draper made the choices she did. What does she gain by setting it in Cleveland? What does she lose by omitting certain characters? How does the ending shift when you know the original? Those questions produce more useful discussion than simply pointing out that Juliet equals Romiette and Romeo equals Julio. I also recommend paying attention to the role of technology in this version. Phone calls, texting, and social media function as the modern equivalent of the balcony scene and the secret marriage. That's not just flavor; it's a structural choice that changes how the tragedy unfolds. The isolation that drives the original play becomes digital isolation here, and that's worth discussing explicitly rather than letting it slide as background detail.
Content Warnings
The book contains references to violence, gang activity, and death. It's not graphic in a gory sense, but the emotional weight of the ending lands hard. I've had some students shut down after the final chapters, so it helps to prepare the room before you start. Let people know what's coming without spoiling the specifics. A simple heads-up goes a long way.
Bottom Line
Romiette And Julio By Sharon Draper is a solid bridge text for Shakespeare adaptation studies. It's short, readable, and thematically rich enough to sustain discussion beyond the initial read. It won't replace the original play, and it shouldn't be treated like a replacement. But used correctly alongside supplementary materials, it opens up a conversation that a lot of students are more willing to enter through this door than through the glass one at the Globe. The book is widely available, cheap on the used market, and the audiobook version adds another dimension if you want to explore performance angles. Just don't skip the prep work before assigning it.
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