A Bank Street Best Book of the Year
“From comedy to tragedy to sonnet, from texts to storms to prom, this collection is a knockout.” —BuzzFeed.com
“Thoughtfully curated, this sumptuous anthology reframes Shakespeare’s work, linking themes to contemporary concerns while bringing a critical eye to the originals’ cultural assumptions. With its range of narrative styles and diverse protagonists, this collection offers much to savor.” —Publishers Weekly
“That Way Madness Lies is a must-read for theater kids ready to consider their favorite comedies and tragedies in a new way, as well as Shakespeare skeptics.” —Booklist
“The stories stand capably on their own merits but will be enriched by familiarity with—or better yet, reading alongside—Shakespeare’s original plays and sonnets. Budding writers may even be inspired to put their own spins on the Bard of Avon’s timeless tales.” —BookPage
“Queer and diverse, this Shakespeare anthology takes 15 of the Bard’s most iconic works and builds an eclectic collection that successfully subverts the original white heteronormative canon. Built-in curriculum potential and excellent representation mean school libraries in particular will find this anthology a worthy purchase.” —School Library Journal
“Ranging from grim and gritty to starry-eyed and futuristic, these 15 stories retell the Bard’s works as they’ve rarely been presented before. A radical reimagining and avant-garde interpretation of Shakespeare.” —Kirkus Reviews
“That Way Madness Lies is a stunning collection of laughs, heartbreak, and beauty. The authors and the source material shine in this book.” —PaperbackParis.com
“That Way Madness Lies is a spectacular, spell-binding Shakespearean collection that you will fall deeply in love with...Each tale is a gem in the glittering crown of this anthology, which is one of the best anthologies I’ve ever read.” —TheNerdDaily.com
Praise for HIS HIDEOUS HEART
“Adler’s anthology brims over with fierce delight and uncanny invention; the stories here vary in their effect nearly as much as Poe’s do. If you haven’t read Poe before, His Hideous Heart works equally well as an introduction, a tribute and a loving critique.” —The New York Times Book Review
“Presenting 13 reinterpretations of Poe’s works alongside the originals, this enticing anthology offers an accessible, multifaceted reading experience for fans old and new.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
“A genre-bending collection of 13 twists on Edgar Allan Poe’s works does Poe proud with this creepy and atmospheric set of stories inspired by a handful of his most well-known works. Diversity in race, gender identity, and sexuality is well-represented. Poe’s ghost happily haunts this fresh, delightfully dark collection.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“While we love Edgar Allan Poe—the original sadboi and Halloween’s unofficial literary mascot—we have to admit that his 150-year-old stories could use a 2019-worthy glow-up. The YA story collection His Hideous Heart takes that challenge and runs with it. Each of the anthology’s contributors revamp or totally reinvent 13 of Poe’s best-known stories and poems, imbuing most of them with a much-needed dose of feminism, LGBTQ representation, and racial diversity.” —HelloGiggles.com
2021-01-12
Ranging from grim and gritty to starry-eyed and futuristic, these 15 stories retell the Bard’s works as they’ve rarely been presented before.
As noted by editor Adler, these tales—by a range of noted YA authors including Adler, Amy Rose Capetta, Cory McCarthy, Kiersten White, Tochi Onyebuchi, Samantha Mabry, and others—are designed to subvert the lack of diversity in the canon. While the plots mostly adhere to predetermined arcs, the characters and settings diverge wildly, with most protagonists recast as LGBTQ+ and people of color. Some authors play with format—retelling Romeo and Juliet through text messages—while others blend genres—Hamlet leans on Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and Much Ado About Nothing goes SF. While the major comedies and tragedies appear, lesser-known and less-performed works like Coriolanus and problematic plays like TheTaming of the Shrew and TheMerchant of Venice—which can be uncomfortable to modern audiences—also get a shot at the spotlight. Although all are engaging, some of the stories feel incomplete; with the first acts and finales left unexplained, readers must interpolate from the source material; this volume will be best appreciated alongside the originals. Still, many of the comedies abound with energy and enthusiasm and the tragedies with current-day woes. These tales aim to and succeed at introducing brave new worlds and creating spaces for those previously omitted, maligned, or silenced in Shakespeare’s works.
A radical reimagining and avant-garde interpretation of Shakespeare. (about the authors, about Shakespeare) (Anthology. 14-18)
