That Way Madness Lies edited by Dahlia Adler

Just before Thanksgiving Break, I finished reading That Way Madness Lies edited by Dahlia Adler. This story collection reinterprets fifteen of Shakespeare's most notable works, including Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Tempest, The Taming of the Shrew, Much Ado about Nothing, Julius Caesar, Hamlet, and MacBeth. Seventeen popular YA authors present their own takes of Shakespeare, sharing stories that are funny, tragic, and thrilling.

I read several of Shakespeare's plays when I was in high school, so I really enjoyed this story collection because I loved how the YA authors added more diversity to the stories with which I was already familiar. I also liked how not all of the stories were written in a traditional story format. There was a story told entirely through text messages, an oral history, a playscript, and a story that included letters, newspaper clippings, and journal entries. My favorites were "Severe Weather Warning" by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka, "Shipwrecked" by Mark Oshiro, "Taming of the Soul Mate" by K. Ancrum, "King of the Fairies" by Anna-Marie McLemore, "Some Other Metal" by A. R. Capetta and Cory McCarthy, "I Bleed" by Dahlia Adler, "Partying is Such Sweet Sorrow" by Kiersten White, "Dreaming of the Dark" by Lindsay Smith, "Elsinore" by Patrice Caldwell, and "Lost Girl" by Melissa Bashardoust. Finally, the stories varied significantly in setting (past, present, and future) and genre (realistic, historical, fantasy, science fiction, gothic), which added appeal to the collection. I thought it was cool that some of the authors wrote notes explaining their writing process, as well. I'll have to check out the original works that I haven't read before. Overall, That Way Madness Lies is an excellent choice for teens who are fans of Shakespeare and enjoy variety.