Romiette and Julio
Encyclopedia
Romiette and Julio by Sharon M. Draper is an updated version of The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet
by William Shakespeare
. Many of the characters in Draper's novel closely parallel those in Shakespeare's play. The plot updates the family feud between the Capulets and Montagues to reflect modern racial tensions between African-Americans and Hispanics in the United States.
The next morning is Julio's first day at Romiette's school. After having trouble with gangs in Corpus Christi, Texas
, Julio follows his father's new job to Cincinnati. On his first day of school, he hits a classmate, Ben, hard enough to make his nose bleed. When Ben covers for Julio, telling the principal that he had tripped and fell, Julio and Ben become friends, after Ben calls Julio. When Julio gets home that afternoon, he logs into a chatroom with the screen name
"spanishlover" and starts to chat anonymously with "afroqueen," who he later finds is Romiette Romiette invites Destiny over to her house to watch a movie. After the film is over, Romiette excitedly tells Destiny about her online chat with "spanishlover." However, Destiny warns Romiette about dangerous people on the internet.
Later at school, Julio is threatened by The Devildogs, a gang that assumes he belonged to a rival gang in Texas. Once home, Julio calls his friend Diego to groan about how much he hates Cincinnati. As soon as Diego hangs up, Ben calls and Julio asks him about The Family. Again, Julio and Romiette chat online, but this time they arrange to meet at lunch. Julio tells Ben about the lunch date. After school, Romiette writes in her journal about the lunch date, writing that the first thing she thought when she saw him was how good looking he was, that he hates Cincinnati and loves Texas, and concluding by vowing to call Destiny about it. At that moment, Destiny calls Romiette and they talk about the lunch date. For fun, Romiette only says that she had lunch with the person she chatted with, leaving Destiny to think she had lunch with a grown man. Romiette chats with Julio online, asking what sign he is for Destiny.
At this point, Julio's father Luis mentions that he disapproves of his son's interactions with black classmates because of previous experiences with gang troubles. Unaware of the mounting family conflict, Romeitte continues to write in her journal about Julio, confessing that she is starting to like him more and more. When Julio talks to Ben, he, too, realizes how much he is beginning to like Romeitte. He says that she makes him feel alive. A couple of days later, at her mother's store Romiette is threatened by Makala, a member of The Devil Dogs, who disapprove of their relationship. Romiette and Julio face how to cope with the gang pressures, while continuing to fall deeply in love.
Romiette had the same dream that she is drowning and, again, she hears a male voice at the end. During lunch, Romi runs into Malaka, who warns Romiette again about the Devil Dogs and how they don't like her hanging out with Julio. When Julio tells his parents about Romiette, his mother Maria approves, as long as he takes his time. Luis, on the other hand, cannot accept that Romi is black, telling his son the story of how his first love was killed by African American gang members.
When Destiny spends the night at Romiette's, they try out the "Scientific Soul Mate System", which is supposed to find the man of their dreams. On Sunday morning Romiette finds she has dreamed about Julio and looks forward to seeing him later that afternoon. After a relaxing afternoon at Romiette's house, they walk to Julio's home through London Woods. Soon, they see a car following them. The Devil Dogs pull up and threaten Romi and Julio at gunpoint to end their relationship. On Monday at lunch Ben, Julio, Romiette, and Destiny all sit at their lunch table and talk about what to do about the gang problem, eventually agreeing on a plan to stop them. On Monday evening at five o'clock, they put their plan in action and head towards London Woods At six o’ clock Romiette and Julio start kissing and hugging to draw attention to themselves, as Ben and Destiny follow in a car. To their horror, the car breaks down, leaving them to push it the rest of the way. Now left vulnerable without backup, Romi and Julio are soon kidnapped by The Devil Dogs.
When Romiette's parents Lady and Cornell come home from work, they see that Romi is not home. Lady then calls Malaka and asks her if she knows where Romi is at. Malaka denies any knowledge of her whereabouts. Soon, Destiny and Ben arrive at the Cappelle home to explain what happened to Romi and Julio. Meanwhile, at the Montague’s, Luis thinks it is Romiette's fault that his son is missing. Malaka finally tells the police something about where Romiette and Julio are, also getting charged for possession of a firearm, while Ben and Destiny help to find their missing friends.
Romi and Julio are stranded at the bottom of a boat in London Woods Lake. When lightning strikes, they are separated. Having fallen into the lake, unable to swim, Romi blacks out and experiences once again her recurring dream. When Julio finds her floating face down, he pulls her to land and finds she is not breathing. As Julio tries to wake her, Romi recognizes the voice in her dream as Julio's.
Meanwhile, Officer Blazar finds the minicam Julio had in his pocket and Destiny spots Romi's shoe. The officers and the parents decide to dredge
the lake, as newscasters announce Romi and Julio's disappearance.
Soon, Nannette Norris, a local newscaster, arrives to interview people around the London Woods. Looking together at the other end of the lake, the Cappelle and Montague fathers find Romiette and Julio under a log. The news cameraman gets a shot of the fathers bringing back Romi and Julio, and follows them to the hospital for interviews. The entire Cappelle and Montague families go on air to tell the community what happened. The novel ends with Romiette and Julio calling each other to laugh at the whole thing.
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
by William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
. Many of the characters in Draper's novel closely parallel those in Shakespeare's play. The plot updates the family feud between the Capulets and Montagues to reflect modern racial tensions between African-Americans and Hispanics in the United States.
Overview
This story begins with Romiette waking from a recurring nightmare in which she drowns in fire and water. At the end of each of these nightmares, a male's voice speaks to her. Though afraid, Romiette wonders if the voice belongs to her soulmate. Her best friend, Destiny Dodson, who is interested in astrology, is eager to help Romi find her soulmate. Soon, she meets Julio Montague in a chatroom. Julio has just moved from Texas to Cincinnati, Ohio and is depressed about leaving his home and friends. Romiette and Julio soon become friends, find out that they go to the same school, meet up, and eventually fall in love. However, a local gang disapproves of their interracial dating as Romiette is African-American and Julio is Hispanic.Plot summary
Waking up 3 a.m. on the last night of Christmas vacation, Romiette has had another drowning dream. To relax herself, she starts to write in her diary.The next morning is Julio's first day at Romiette's school. After having trouble with gangs in Corpus Christi, Texas
Corpus Christi, Texas
Corpus Christi is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas. The county seat of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patricio counties. The MSA population in 2008 was 416,376. The population was 305,215 at the 2010 census making it the...
, Julio follows his father's new job to Cincinnati. On his first day of school, he hits a classmate, Ben, hard enough to make his nose bleed. When Ben covers for Julio, telling the principal that he had tripped and fell, Julio and Ben become friends, after Ben calls Julio. When Julio gets home that afternoon, he logs into a chatroom with the screen name
User (computing)
A user is an agent, either a human agent or software agent, who uses a computer or network service. A user often has a user account and is identified by a username , screen name , nickname , or handle, which is derived from the identical Citizen's Band radio term.Users are...
"spanishlover" and starts to chat anonymously with "afroqueen," who he later finds is Romiette Romiette invites Destiny over to her house to watch a movie. After the film is over, Romiette excitedly tells Destiny about her online chat with "spanishlover." However, Destiny warns Romiette about dangerous people on the internet.
Later at school, Julio is threatened by The Devildogs, a gang that assumes he belonged to a rival gang in Texas. Once home, Julio calls his friend Diego to groan about how much he hates Cincinnati. As soon as Diego hangs up, Ben calls and Julio asks him about The Family. Again, Julio and Romiette chat online, but this time they arrange to meet at lunch. Julio tells Ben about the lunch date. After school, Romiette writes in her journal about the lunch date, writing that the first thing she thought when she saw him was how good looking he was, that he hates Cincinnati and loves Texas, and concluding by vowing to call Destiny about it. At that moment, Destiny calls Romiette and they talk about the lunch date. For fun, Romiette only says that she had lunch with the person she chatted with, leaving Destiny to think she had lunch with a grown man. Romiette chats with Julio online, asking what sign he is for Destiny.
At this point, Julio's father Luis mentions that he disapproves of his son's interactions with black classmates because of previous experiences with gang troubles. Unaware of the mounting family conflict, Romeitte continues to write in her journal about Julio, confessing that she is starting to like him more and more. When Julio talks to Ben, he, too, realizes how much he is beginning to like Romeitte. He says that she makes him feel alive. A couple of days later, at her mother's store Romiette is threatened by Makala, a member of The Devil Dogs, who disapprove of their relationship. Romiette and Julio face how to cope with the gang pressures, while continuing to fall deeply in love.
Romiette had the same dream that she is drowning and, again, she hears a male voice at the end. During lunch, Romi runs into Malaka, who warns Romiette again about the Devil Dogs and how they don't like her hanging out with Julio. When Julio tells his parents about Romiette, his mother Maria approves, as long as he takes his time. Luis, on the other hand, cannot accept that Romi is black, telling his son the story of how his first love was killed by African American gang members.
When Destiny spends the night at Romiette's, they try out the "Scientific Soul Mate System", which is supposed to find the man of their dreams. On Sunday morning Romiette finds she has dreamed about Julio and looks forward to seeing him later that afternoon. After a relaxing afternoon at Romiette's house, they walk to Julio's home through London Woods. Soon, they see a car following them. The Devil Dogs pull up and threaten Romi and Julio at gunpoint to end their relationship. On Monday at lunch Ben, Julio, Romiette, and Destiny all sit at their lunch table and talk about what to do about the gang problem, eventually agreeing on a plan to stop them. On Monday evening at five o'clock, they put their plan in action and head towards London Woods At six o’ clock Romiette and Julio start kissing and hugging to draw attention to themselves, as Ben and Destiny follow in a car. To their horror, the car breaks down, leaving them to push it the rest of the way. Now left vulnerable without backup, Romi and Julio are soon kidnapped by The Devil Dogs.
When Romiette's parents Lady and Cornell come home from work, they see that Romi is not home. Lady then calls Malaka and asks her if she knows where Romi is at. Malaka denies any knowledge of her whereabouts. Soon, Destiny and Ben arrive at the Cappelle home to explain what happened to Romi and Julio. Meanwhile, at the Montague’s, Luis thinks it is Romiette's fault that his son is missing. Malaka finally tells the police something about where Romiette and Julio are, also getting charged for possession of a firearm, while Ben and Destiny help to find their missing friends.
Romi and Julio are stranded at the bottom of a boat in London Woods Lake. When lightning strikes, they are separated. Having fallen into the lake, unable to swim, Romi blacks out and experiences once again her recurring dream. When Julio finds her floating face down, he pulls her to land and finds she is not breathing. As Julio tries to wake her, Romi recognizes the voice in her dream as Julio's.
Meanwhile, Officer Blazar finds the minicam Julio had in his pocket and Destiny spots Romi's shoe. The officers and the parents decide to dredge
Dredge
Dredging is an excavation activity or operation usually carried out at least partly underwater, in shallow seas or fresh water areas with the purpose of gathering up bottom sediments and disposing of them at a different location...
the lake, as newscasters announce Romi and Julio's disappearance.
Soon, Nannette Norris, a local newscaster, arrives to interview people around the London Woods. Looking together at the other end of the lake, the Cappelle and Montague fathers find Romiette and Julio under a log. The news cameraman gets a shot of the fathers bringing back Romi and Julio, and follows them to the hospital for interviews. The entire Cappelle and Montague families go on air to tell the community what happened. The novel ends with Romiette and Julio calling each other to laugh at the whole thing.
Characters
- Romiette Capelle - A tall, cocoa-colored, long-haired teenager in the city of Cincinnati. She is very free-spirited; she writes about her feelings in her diary. She is not interested in boys until she meets Julio.
- Julio Montague - A tall, strong, open-minded Hispanic teenager who just moved from Corpus Christi to Cincinnati because of gang problems. He hates Cincinnati the first day that he is there, because, according to him, there is no color or life in the city.
- Destiny Dodson- Romiette's best friend. She is very interested in astrology and uses Zodiac signs to determine fate. She feels that if she waits long enough the man of dreams will come.
- Ben- One of Julio's first friends at school. He always has different hair color daily and has lots of piercings. Roughly based on Shakespeare's BenvolioBenvolioBenvolio Montague is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's drama Romeo and Juliet.-Sources:In 1554, Matteo Bandello published the second volume of his Novelle which included his version of Giuletta e Romeo. Bandello emphasises Romeo's initial depression and the feud between the families,...
.
- Malaka - One of Romiette's friends back when they were smaller.
- Nannette Norris- The news reporter that works with Cornell. Always keeps on messing up her words for other words that do not make sense.
- Rashad- One of the three people involved in Julio and Romiette's kidnapping
- Mookie- Another one of the three people involved in the kidnapping
- Iceman- Last of the three people involved in the kidnapping
- Captain Escaluki-a police officer for the kidnapping investigation. Shakespeare's Prince Escalus.
- Will Spear-Another officer for the investigation.
- Officer Blazar- An officer that's new to the force.
- Lawrence-Cameraman that works with Nannatte at the news station.
- Cornell Cappelle- Romiette's father,and news reporter. Shakespeare's Lord Capulet.
- Lady Cappelle- Romiette's mother. Shakespeare's Lady Capulet.
- Madame Mantua-French teacher of the school. In The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, Romeo is exiled to the city of Mantua.
- Mr. Prince -The Principal of the high school. Another reference to Prince Escalus.
- Terell-The leader of the Gang. Shakespeare's TybaltTybaltTybalt is a fictional character and the main antagonist in William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. He is Lady Capulet's nephew, Juliet's hot-tempered cousin and Romeo's rival. Tybalt shares the same name as the character Tibert/Tybalt the "Prince of Cats" in Reynard the Fox, a point of...
.