April 23rd is Shakespeare’s birthday and The Loft is celebrating The Bard’s 445th with this great list of books! Here you’ll find modern novel re-tellings of Shakespeare plays, stories inspired by the great scribe’s life (and the lives of his characters), Manga adaptations, as well as gripping non-fiction titles that explore his creative genius, biography, and thematic obsessions.  Dive into the exciting, vibrant world of The Bard to combat the early spring doldrums!  Happy Birthday, Will!

Feeling lost in Shakespeare’s verse? Don’t have a chance to see the plays performed on stage? The Loft now has a selection of Shakespeare’s plays in Manga form! Macbeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hamlet, Julius Caesar, The Tempest, Romeo and Juliet - the Bard’s immortal poetry and stories come alive in stunning illustrations and shrewd adaptations. Let’s face it: Shakespeare’s words, while exquisitely rendered and timeless, can be a struggle to read on your own. Why not get a grip on the stories first with an edition of MANGA SHAKESPEARE? You’ll find them at call number YA 822.44, or ask a member of The Loft staff to help you find one.

Also, listen to this Wisconsin Public Radio broadcast from two weeks ago on Shakespeare in the modern world. Towards the end you’ll find a fascinating segment on adapting Shakespeare into graphic novel and comic book form.

The Juliet Club by Suzanne Harper (Greenwillow, 2008 )

You win a Shakespeare essay contest in high school. The prize? A month-long summer trip to Verona, Italy, to study Romeo and Juliet. But under the sporadic direction of Professoressa Francesca Marchese, this is no ordinary seminar spent annotating and dissecting Shakespearean text, to which Kate Sanderson is accustomed. Instead, the six teen winners (3 American and 3 Italian) are tasked with answering letters written to Juliet and sent to The Juliet Club  (a club in Verona that receives and responds to contemporary letters).* That means offering advice on matters of the heart, and they’re supposed to work together. Which means Kate has to work with Giacamo, whom she can’t stand, or can she? After all, she’s sworn off love after being dumped by her first, and she proclaims, last, love interest for a long time.

The seminar participants also have to perform Romeo and Juliet as their culminating event, complete with swordfighting and Elizabethan dancing. What’s a summer in Verona, Italy, in the land of Romeo and Juliet without devious matchmaking plots, romantic leads and comic mishaps? Star-crossed lovers, witty dialog, and allusions to Shakespeare’s plays (Much Ado About Nothing and others) pepper the narrative with enough spice to keep the action moving in the somewhat predictable, but delightfully fun story. If you have to read Romeo and Juliet for school, read this for sheer pleasure. Familiarity with Shakespeare’s plays isn’t necessary to enjoy this story (Christie, The Loft).

*Interesting note: The Juliet Club really exists, and Juliet’s secretaries respond to and translate thousands of letters from around the world asking for help and/or advice on love. Finding out about this club was one of my favorite parts of reading this book.

April 26, Saturday, 2 pm. Saturday Afternoon Movie! 10 Things I Hate About You.

Pretty and popular Bianca wants a date. But her father won’t let her date until her older, odious sister, Kat, has a date of her own. Bianca’s desperation for romance turns into a convoluted scheme sure to entertain. A modern day Taming of the Shrew (Shakespeare)! Teens only! Rated PG-13