Romiette & Julio by Sharon M. Draper

ISBN: 0-689-84209-0
Simon Pulse, NY
1st paperback edition 2001 (first edition 1999)
320 pages

Plot Summary

Julio and Romiette discover, while chatting online, that they attend the same high school in Cincinnati. Romi grew up in Cincinnati (where her dad is a local news anchor) while Julio just moved there to escape gang activity in Corpus Christi, Texas. The teens fall for each other but Julio realizes that the Devildogs gang at his new school doesn't want them dating. The gang members are black and they don't want Romi (who is also black) to date Julio, who is Hispanic.

Critical Evaluation

I liked Ms. Draper's premise of a modern day Romeo & Juliet (especially since Shakespeare's version is on high school required reading lists) but she carries the foreshadowing of Romi's fire and water nightmare too far and some of the plot twists are too predictable. However, she did a good job in portraying the pointlessness of most gang activities and how they will target victims with little or no provocation.

Reader's Annotation

This modern day version of Romeo and Juliet focuses on the star-crossed teenage lovers, Romiette and Julio who, according to their fathers and the Devildogs gang, shouldn't be together because she is black and his is Hispanic.

Author Info

Sharon M. Draper is the award-winning author of many YA books, including Tears of a Tiger(Coretta Scott King John Steptoe Award for New Talent) and Forged by Fire (an ALA Best Book for YA).

Genre

YA novel - gang violence

Curriculum Ties

high school reading lists and maybe a Life Skills class to learn how to handle gangs

Booktalking Ideas

1. Julio meets Ben by punching him in the nose on Julio's first day at his new school.

2. Romi and Juli are so happy to have found one another that they dance on the school's lunch tables.

Reading/Interest Level

High school for both

Challenge Issues and Defense

violence, gangs, bullying, racism

realistic portrayal of life in city high schools

Excellent reviews in SLJ, Booklist and VOYA

Why I Included This Book

This was another book that we used in our controversial YA literature presentation. We used it to discuss bullying and gang activity.