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About Star-Crossed
Product Description Twelve-year-old Mattie wrestles with her crush on Gemma as they participate in their school production of Romeo and Juliet in what School Library Journal calls “a fine choice for middle school libraries in need of accessible LGBTQ stories.” Twelve-year-old Mattie is thrilled when she learns the eighth grade play will be Romeo and Juliet. In particular, she can’t wait to share the stage with Gemma Braithwaite, who has been cast as Juliet. Gemma is brilliant, pretty—and British!—and Mattie starts to see her as more than just a friend. But Mattie has also had an on/off crush on her classmate Elijah since, well, forever. Is it possible to have a crush on both boys AND girls? If that wasn’t enough to deal with, things offstage are beginning to resemble their own Shakespearean drama: the cast is fighting, and the boy playing Romeo may not be up to the challenge of the role. And due to a last-minute emergency, Mattie is asked to step up and take over the leading role—opposite Gemma’s Juliet—just as Mattie’s secret crush starts to become not-so-secret in her group of friends. In this funny, sweet, and clever look at the complicated nature of middle school romance, Mattie learns how to become a lead player in her own life. About the Author Barbara Dee is the author of twelve middle grade novels published by Simon & Schuster, including Violets Are Blue, My Life in the Fish Tank, Maybe He Just Likes You, Everything I Know About You, Halfway Normal, and Star-Crossed. Her books have earned several starred reviews and have been named to many best-of lists, including the The Washington Post’s Best Children’s Books, the ALA Notable Children’s Books, the ALA Rise: A Feminist Book Project List, the NCSS-CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People, and the ALA Rainbow List Top Ten. Barbara lives with her family, including a naughty cat named Luna and a sweet rescue hound named Ripley, in Westchester County, New York. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Star-Crossed 1 “In fair Verona, where we lay our scene.” —Romeo and Juliet, Prologue 2 It wasn’t about me, I knew. But still. I hadn’t been invited to Willow’s Halloween party, and I was okay with it. Unlike a lot of my classmates, I didn’t plan my schedule around her parties, which were usually sweaty and overcrowded, the sort of thing where you spent the whole time shouting over music you’d never listen to on your own. She’d always invited me to her Halloween parties before, and I’d always gone, mostly because my two best friends, Tessa Pollock and Lucy Yang, were going, and the three of us always stuck together. Everyone knew this, even Willow, who never paid us much attention. The weird thing was how she’d invited Lucy (even though she never hung out with Willow) and Tessa (even though Willow pretty much hated her). But not me. “Don’t feel bad, Mattie,” Lucy urged me. She looked worried. Lucy was always fussing over this sort of stuff, trying to make sure everyone felt comfortable. The idea that she was invited when I wasn’t . . . well, I could tell she felt terrible. “I heard she invited only half the class, so I’m sure it wasn’t personal.” “How could it not be personal?” Tessa demanded. “Willow decides who’s invited and who’s not. What could be more personal than that?” “You guys, I’m fine,” I insisted. But still, I tried to think if I’d offended Willow lately, if maybe I’d forgotten to congratulate her on scoring a goal or something. Willow was the type of person who expected face-to-face compliments, not just cheers. Tessa snorted. “Of course you’re not fine, Mattie. How could anyone be fine about being left out of the biggest party all year?” We were at Verona’s, this new fro-yo place in town where you could design your own sundaes. I was having chocolate fudge with chocolate chips and crushed brownies, Lucy was having strawberry with a bunch of fruit on top, and Tessa was having vanilla drowned in almost
