Romiette and Julio, by Sharon Draper, follows the star-crossed love of two modern teenagers--Julio Montague and Romiette Cappelle--who meet in an online chat room and discover that they attend the same high school. In the same fashion of the Shakespearean tragedy that this book parallels, Julio and Romiette come from two different worlds; Romiette is an African-American girl living in Cincinnati, while Julio is a Hispanic boy from Corpus Christi. The two face huge obstacles in their relationship, from the disapproval of Julio's father to the violent threats of the local "Devil Dog" gang. Race--rather than a feud between two families--plays a huge role in the young lovers' troubles. The text chooses to examine the role that destiny plays in our lives while considering how prejudice negatively impacts young people.
This Young Adult novel is widely taught in middle school English classes, as it is considered more approachable for young readers than Romeo and Juliet (particularly in terms of language). The text introduces students to concepts of race and conflict (as well as providing an understanding of the basic narrative of Romeo and Juliet) while allowing them to get comfortable with the tools of literature (POV, character development, metaphor, mood, dialect, hyperbolic language, etc.).
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