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STAR-CROSSED

Barbara Dee

Mattie is chosen to play Romeo opposite her crush in the eighth grade production of Shakespeare’s most beloved play in this Romeo and Juliet inspired novel from the author of Truth or Dare.
Mattie, a star student and passionate reader, is delighted when her English teacher announces the eighth grade will be staging Romeo and Juliet. And she is even more excited when, after a series of events, she finds herself playing Romeo, opposite Gemma Braithwaite’s Juliet. Gemma, the new girl at school, is brilliant, pretty, outgoing—and, if all that wasn’t enough: British.

As the cast prepares for opening night, Mattie finds herself growing increasingly attracted to Gemma and confused, since, just days before, she had found herself crushing on a boy named Elijah. Is it possible to have a crush on both boys AND girls? If that wasn’t enough to deal with, things backstage at the production are starting to rival any Shakespearean drama! In this sweet and funny look at the complicated nature of middle school romance, Mattie learns how to be the lead player in her own life.

Barbara Dee is the author of Star-Crossed, Truth or Dare, The (Almost) Perfect Guide to Imperfect Boys, Trauma Queen, This Is Me From Now On, Solving Zoe (Bank Street Best Children’s Books), and Just Another Day in My Insanely Real Life (Publishers Weekly, starred review). Barbara is one of the founders and directors of the Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival. She lives in Westchester County, New York, with her family, two naughty cats, and a rescue hound dog named Ripley. Barbara blogs at FromtheMixedUpFiles.com.
Available products
Book

Published 2017-03-14 by Aladdin/ Simon & Schuster

Book

Published 2017-03-14 by Aladdin/ Simon & Schuster

Comments

Star-Crossed delighted me! Barbara Dee has a light touch and a pitch-perfect middle school voice. This book will have you laughing and groaning in sympathy with crush-addled Mattie and eagerly turning pages. Mattie and her classmates charmed me with their kindness, their humor, their uncertainty, their devotion to one another and to—Shakespeare! Barbara masterfully sprinkles the bard’s words over the narration and stirs the troubles of Romeo and Juliet into the plot. And those Shakespearean insults! Be sure to read Star-Crossed or you’ll miss out.

STARCROSSED takes the drama, humor, friendships, misunderstandings and romance of Romeo & Juliet and transforms them perfectly to the middle school stage. One word about this honest, heartfelt middle grade novel for the theater geek in each of us? Encore!

Barbara Dee’s Star-Crossed is a love story, a rallying cry for girl-power, and a Shakespeare lover’s dream come true. When I finished reading, I had a huge smile on my face and a lightness in my heart.

Star-Crossed by Barbara Dee cleverly draws from Romeo and Juliet, providing readers with an insightful introduction to Shakespeare while exploring the complexities of young love. Readers will root for this relationship.

A sweet story of young love amid middle school theatrics…readers cannot help but root for Mattie as she discovers bravery she never gave herself credit for, both onstage and in life. While the plot revolves around Shakespeare's famous tragedy, this story is far from one.

Augmenting this exploration of first infatuation is a thorough lesson on the important lines and nuances of the play itself, as Liam provides unexpected insight into Romeo’s character and mistakes, and champions the role of friends in helping sort out feelings.