Romiette and Julio » (Reprint)

Sharon Draper is a two-time Coretta Scott King Award-winning author, most recently for Copper Sun, and previously for Forged by Fire. She's also the recipient of the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Author Award for New Talent for Tears of a Tiger and the Coretta Scott King Author Honor for The Battle of Jericho and November Blues. Her other books include Romiette and Julio, Darkness Before Dawn, and Double Dutch. She lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, where she taught high school English for twenty-five years.

Star Crossed Lovers

When Romiette Cappelle meets Julio Montague, she feels as though she has met the soul mate who can rescue her from her recurring nightmare about fire and water. But like the Shakespearean characters whose names echo theirs, Romiette and Julio discover that not everyone approves of their budding romance. In their case, it is because Romiette is African-American and Julio is Hispanic, and the Devildogs, a dangerous local gang, violently oppose their interracial relationship.

When the Devildogs threaten to teach them a lesson, Romiette and Julio come up with a risky plan to escape from the gang's fearsome shadow. But things go terribly awry, and the two find themselves caught up in a deadly reality more frightening that Romiette's nightmare — and in a desperate struggle to avoid the tragic fate of Shakespeare's famous young lovers.

KLIATT

Romiette is African American; Julio is Hispanic. Ironically, Julio's family relocated to escape gangs in his old high school in Texas only to find Cincinnati has them also. The two meet on the Internet and go off to a private chat room before they realize they are students at the same school. With names like these you feel they must have an ill-fated ending. In keeping with the Shakespearean tale, they are destined to be together while peers and family try to persuade them to part. The Devildogs, the notorious gang that rules the high school, are incensed by Romiette and Julio's relationship and harass them to the point that it becomes quite dangerous for the two. The story is a bit predictable but still enjoyable. KLIATT Codes: JS—Recommended for junior and senior high school students. 1999, Simon & Schuster, Aladdin, 320p., $4.99. Ages 13 to 18. Reviewer: Sherri Forgash Ginsberg; Chapel Hill, NC , September 2001 (Vol. 35 No. 5)