Israeli-born Ronit's abba works as a pharmacist in East Jerusalem; Palestinian Jamil's abi works as a doctor. But when both fathers decide to drag their willful teens onto the job with them, they impart the same stern words of advice: "Don't look." Yet in this modern day Romeo and Juliet revamp, Ronit is quick to admire Jamil's hazel gaze, and Jamil, too, swiftly swoons for the "girl / with the song in her voice." So begin text message trysts, marketplace meetups, and a love as fierce as it is forbidden. Like its predecessor, Laskin's tale, a series of mostly page-length poems, unfolds in five acts. Alternating between the perspectives of each teen (and, eventually, their fathers), it illuminates a tense but textured land riddled with rockets, roadblocks, and olive trees. Occasionally saccharine but always accessible, the modern verse ecked with Arabic, Hebrew, and iconic excerpts from the play itself ll ease romance-hungry teens into both Shakespeare's original and the challenging context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A welcome nod to hope in the face of the impossible.

In this Romeo and Julietinspired verse novel set in present-day Israel, teenagers Ronit (an Israeli girl) and Jamil (a Palestinian boy) meet while accompanying their fathers (a Jewish pharmacist and Muslim doctor, respectively) to an East Jerusalem clinic. First-person poems in various forms convey characters' curiosity, confusion, and desires; the protagonists have strikingly similar voices, requiring close reading. Supplementary information offers context.

A timeless tale of star-crossed love set amid modern-day conflict.Laskin's novel in verse takes forbidden teen love à la Romeo and Juliet and sets it in present-day Israel. She portrays the Montagues and Capulets as Jews and Arabs, casting Ronit as the daring daughter of an Israeli pharmacist who falls for Jamil, the alluring son of a Palestinian doctor. What gives this contemporary reprise its ironic edge is that while the protagonists' fathers work together and routinely set aside political differences in the service of healing the sick, their ingrained cultural prejudices prevent them from accepting that their beloved children have fallen for each other. Laskin is at pains to show how similar the teens are: they've been raised on the same foods—"hummus, falafel, baba ghanoush"—and both wish to buck convention, Ronit to duck her mandatory army service, Jamil to avoid following in his father's footsteps to a career in medicine. Throughout, Laskin's spare first-person poems and prefatory and end notes help educate young readers as to the gravity of the political stakes in this war-torn region where, while Ronit texts that "there is no separation barrier" between them, they both lament that their physical reality proves quite the opposite: "This wall / is so high; / 25 feet of concrete / 435 miles long." At once romantic and revealing, an important window into contemporary conditions in the Middle East. (Verse fiction. 14-18)

Laskin (Homer the Little Stray Cat)

Gr 7 Up-Poet Laskin's short, lyrical novel in verse is a retelling of Romeo and Juliet set in present-day Jerusalem. Ronit is an Israeli girl whose father, Chaim, is a pharmacist, and Jamil is a Palestinian boy whose father, Mohammed, is a physician. Chaim supplies prescription medications to Mohammed's patients. The two teens first meet at the clinic where both their fathers work, and, as in Shakespeare's original, the young lovers fall for each other after meeting only briefly. Through secret texts and clandestine meetings, they desperately try to be with each other while facing opposition from their parents and the very real physical barrier between Israel and the West Bank. The story departs from the original, though, with the implication that Ronit and Jamil will escape the conflict and find a way to be togetheran underlying message of hope for the larger Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Laskin frequently quotes Shakespeare's play as well as Arab poets, including Rumi and Mahmoud Darwish, and makes skillful use of Middle Eastern poetic forms, such as the ghazal. It may occasionally be difficult for readers to tell which character is speaking, but the accessible verse and universal questions about crossing cultural lines make for a quick and powerful read. VERDICT An obvious choice to pair with Romeo and Juliet in a literature class, this can also open discussion about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and about bridging cultural boundaries. Kathleen E. Gruver, Burlington County Library, Westampton, NJ