The Juliet Club
by Suzanne Harper

    THE JULIET CLUB by Suzanne Harper
    Category:  Contemporary
    Age Recommendation:  Grades 9+
    Release Date:  5/27/08
    Publisher:  Greenwillow
    Reviewed by:  Harmony
    Rating:  4 Stars


    THE JULIET CLUB is about six teenagers taking a Shakespeare Seminar in Verona, Italy, which is the same place
    where the famous Romeo and Juliet is set. The three Americans, Tom, Lucy, and Kate, are winners of a
    Shakespeare essay contest and have traveled halfway around the world to attend the seminar. They're all excited,
    for different reasons, to be spending a month in the beautiful country of Italy. The other three teenagers, Benno,
    Giacomo, and Silvia, all live in Verona and happen to be studying at the seminar.

    Each of the teenagers is very different from the rest. Kate is very educated and her father is a noted Shakespeare
    scholar, who just happens to be the main rival of Francesca Marchese, who will be teaching Kate's seminar. Kate,
    who's still suffering from a broken heart whether she'll admit it or not, plans to spend the summer studying and
    discussing Shakespeare even more than before. Lucy, a friendly, bubbly, and beautiful southern, is crazy with
    happiness about being in Italy. Unlike the girls, Tom doesn't seem interested at all in Shakespeare, but more in
    playing soccer (football). Benno is happy and ready to work for whoever will pay him. Giacomo, Benno's best
    friend and the boy all of the girls fall for, is less than thrilled about going to the seminar, but his mother insists. Silvia
    is an angry but beautiful girl who gives off the vibe to stay away from her. Somehow, these six very different teens
    end up together in Italy, where romance is always blooming.

    During the seminar, they are to act out scenes from the play and to answer letters written from Juliet's point of view,
    because hundreds of teens throughout the world write to her every year about their love problems. But the teens
    are not only studying love - they're experiencing it. Their lives are filled with the same experiences of falling in love,
    heartbreak, and jokes that Shakespeare's plays were filled with.

    This book had a fun setting, great characters, and a whole lot of potential. The thing is, it switched points of view so
    often, and focused on so many relationships, that it was hard to keep track and relate to the characters. But even
    so, I'm still looking forward to reading Ms. Harper's previous books and any books to come.