Saving Juliet [Hardcover]

Suzanne Selfors (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 22, 2008

Mimi Wallingford, Great Granddaughter of Adelaide Wallingford, has the life that most girls dream about, playing Juliet opposite teen heartthrob Troy Summer on Broadway in Shakespeare’s famous play.  Unfortunately, she has no desire to be an actress, a fact her mother can’t seem to grasp.  But when she and Troy are magically thrust into Shakespeare’s Verona, they experience the feud between the Capulets and Montagues first hand.  Mimi realizes that she and Juliet have more in common than Shakespeare’s script—they are both fighting for futures of their own choosing.  Mimi feels compelled to help her and with Troy’s unexpected help, hopes to give Shakespeare’s most famous tragedy a happily-ever-after-ending.

Editorial Reviews

Review

From Publishers Weekly

*Starred Review* "Selfors injects an angst-ridden 17-year-old Manhattan actress into Shakespeare's star-crossed romance, yielding hilarious and often very clever results. . . There are plenty of twists as Mimi meddles with Shakespeare's characters (she begins a romance with smooth-talking Benvolio, for example). The author even plays off traditional plot points, providing original versions of the infamous balcony scene and the potion that mimics death. Readers will have fun with the characters."

About the Author

Suzanne Selfors held a number of jobs before becoming a writer, including children's photographer, video producer, organic flower grower, and marketing director. She began writing full time after her daughter started school.  She has two middle-grade novels forthcoming from Little, Brown, and Saving Juliet is her first teen novel.  She lives in Bainbridge Island, Washington. Visit her Web site at www.suzanneselfors.com

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Walker Childrens; 1st edition (January 22, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802797407
• ISBN-13: 978-0802797407
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,413,288 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Suzanne Selfors lives on an island near Seattle where it rains all the time, which is why she tends to write about cloudy, moss-covered, green places.
She's married, has two kids, and writes full time.
Her favorite writers are Kurt Vonnegut, Charles Dickens, and most especially, Roald Dahl.
You can visit her at www.suzanneselfors.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fun, light take on the Bard's most famous play, February 4, 2009

By 

Mandy (Illinois) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Saving Juliet (Hardcover)

This is a cute book that may actually encourage adolescent girls to read Shakespeare, or at least to watch the Claire Danes Romeo + Juliet. I'll take it.

Mimi Wallingford is a teenaged stage actress, and the granddaughter of a famed Broadway actress and producer, who really wants to quit her day job and become a doctor. Her mother won't hear of it, though, and has gotten an admissions officer from a prestigious acting school to come and see Mimi play Juliet in her family's production of that most famous of Shakespeare's plays. Mimi has a panic attack before she sets foot on stage, though, and ends up getting transported back in time (along with her co-star, a Zac Efron type) to Romeo and Juliet's Verona.

While there, she does her best to help the star-crossed couple - and herself - achieve a happy ending, with plenty of humorous mishaps along the way, and all is right with the world. This book is a little dorky, and I'm not convinced by all of the characterizations of Shakespeare's characters (Benvolio and Mercutio mystified me, in particular), but the book was a lot of fun, so I won't be critical. If you've read this summary and are still considering reading the book, you'll probably enjoy it.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun twist on Romeo and Juliet tale, May 2, 2008

By 

Kim Baccellia, "YA Books Central reviewer... (Southern California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Saving Juliet (Hardcover)

Seventeen-year-old Mimi Wallingford seems to have it all. A famous Broadway name and the part of Juliet in a family production.

But she doesn't want to act. What she really wants to do is go away to college to study medicine like her aunt in California. But her mother wants none of that. Mimi feels trapped in her life.

Then both her and the lead of the play, heartthrob Troy Summer, are transported to a place where Romeo and Juliet really exist. Mimi wants to save Juliet from her fate but in rewriting the story will she end up stuck in Shakespeare's Verona?

I really enjoyed this twist on the whole Romeo and Juliet story. Who hasn't wanted to escape their life? This engaging tale will keep the reader turning the pages. I don't remember much of the Shakespeare tale but Suzanne Selfors does a great job weaving in the story. A must read for anyone who enjoys a good YA historical tale. Who knows? It might make you want to go and reread the Shakespeare tale.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful YA book, January 22, 2008

By 

Carol Cassella - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Saving Juliet (Hardcover)

I loved this book--for myself and my young teen daughter. Selfors writes a quick-paced, humorous and inventive tale that still gets a great message across. Loved her sense of humor and characters you'd like to invite home with you. Highly recommend this for pre-teen and early teen girls.