Ronit & Jamil audiobook

This is the most lovely story. A modern Romeo and Juliet,but refreshing and not cliche. Highly highly recommend!! It is absolutely a new poetry favorite that I'll reread many times.

I don't normally do verse but I loved this little book. Maybe not so much the love story but the setting and politics made it a very interesting version of Romeo and Juliet.

Review to come.

So timely for National Poetry Month and the current violence in Gaza. A Romeo & Juliet love story set in verse between and an Israeli girl and a Palestinan boy. Written in 2017 it ends with a happy ending of the couple seeking immigration to America and I quote "America has problems, too. Every place has problems... we can hold hands. We can touch. No country to contain us. No borders. no boundaries. Not in 2018!!!

I don't think novels in verse are really for me but I'm giving it a star boost bc it's such an important story. And despite my struggle to follow the narrative (could not keep track of whose perspective we were in), i did end up rooting for the characters and then got real worried when I hit act 4 and remembered that Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy. I will not tell you whether this story is a tragedy or not.

I love love love the setting and background for this Romeo and Juliet retelling in present day Palestine. I was split on the poems that created this story, half I really enjoyed and half I was just not connecting with. Inspired me to re-read the original play now!

This is a good book if you like poetry, its kind of short but written in the form of poetry. Its about this girl and boy who live on opposite sides of the boarder and there families go way way back with feud. They are forbidden to be together, they just sit on their opposite sides and think about each other and the day that they'll finally be able to meet.

Every high school student reading ROMEO & JULIET, or any teacher, or any lover of young adult books in verse, should read Pamela L. Laskin's moving RONIT & JAMIL, a retelling of the classic with Ronit as a young Israeli and Jamil as a Palestinian. In lyrical, confessional verses told in alternating voices for most of this short novel, (their father's voices come in at the end as a counterpoint, but I vastly preferred the young lovers voices), the challenge of falling in love across cultural, religious-- and political divides is evoked. Checkpoints, bombings, and fences/walls of modern Israel are included as the two teens struggle to come to terms with their past, present and future. I was profoundly moved by their stories, which interwove, at times, lines from Shakespeare's original as well as from modern Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish and others. Laskin does not take sides between Israeli and Palestinian, but rather presents both points of view within the questioning human heart.Ronit & Jamil

The story itself was quite predicable but the twist ending and prose kept it alive.

** spoiler alert ** I REALLY enjoyed this book simply because I love the plot of the book. Ronit & Jamil is a story driven by the same plot line as Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet, but set in the modern day Middle East conflict between Israel and Palestine. Ronit, an Israeli girl, and Jamil, a Palestinian boy, are so engrossed in love that they surpass the feud between their cultures.All written in a collection of poems, I believe everyone should read Ronit & Jamil. Reading this beautiful written novel allowed me to see other parts of the world and what they struggle with as a country. Instead of dehumanizing people from the Middle East and portraying them as the enemy, like the media often does, the author paints these two characters not only as lovers, but as two adolescents who are capable of breaking the feud between their cultures, something that even their own parents can't do. I've seen a lot of bad reviews on this book, many of which say that they could not tell who was taking. Although the book has its flaws, I did not find it difficult to tell who was talking because it's easy to figure out through context clues. I wished the author would have added the ending of Romeo & Juliet. I understand she wanted to add her own spin toward the end, but I do not think it is realistic for them to live in a different identity and be happy forever. The feud between Israel and Palestine started in 1947, so the battle between the two cultures is way more powerful than Ronit & Jamil's love. Altogether the book opened my eyes to the conflict between Israel and Palestine, and she left me wanting to read more about Ronit & Jamil. The diversity of this novel is something that should be repeated in all types of literature because literature is universal.

** spoiler alert ** Ronit & Jamil by Pamela L. Laskin is a new world retelling of the greatest classic love story, Romeo & Julliet. Ronit, an Israelis girl who met Jamil, an Palastenian boy as Ronit’s Abba supplying medication to a clinic where Jamil’s Abi served. Initially, I thought this is a novel, but it is a poem story of them. It describes a little bit of history of the war and the atmosphere of the daily life. I can sense that the writer try to be neutral, not to side of either Israel or Palestine. Most of it is how Ronit & Jamil grew feeling towards one another and how their situation complicate things. They had to hide their relationship from the family and sneaking out to meet. When their parents found out, they planned to run away to a place where love is not forbidden between them. One may think that this is just a fiction but somewhere in this part of the world, story of Romeo & Juliet happens among us. In a different version, in different era, with different challanges. To the other Romeo & Juliet, if it is worth it, hope you find happiness in each other ❤️

I had a rollercoaster of emotions when it came to this book. First I was excited forgetting that it is a story told in poems. Then I was skeptical when I realized it was a story told in poems. Then I was totally into it before finding myself to be confused. I went back and forth between understanding and confusion and despite not following along with the story 100% of the time I found it very powerful and ultimately enjoyable. I feel like reading it again would help fill in some blanks and better connect the dots. But even without complete clarity I was able to follow along and feel the story. I enjoyed reading a story that revolves around topics that I am personally unfamiliar with but told in a way that is relatable. I want to read it again so I can appreciate it more. But where i stand right now is that i liked it. Also, I liked the references to Romeo and Juliet. Which is a story that I enjoy and I really liked reading this modern version of it.

Lovely. It's a great idea to set the Romeo and Juliet story in Israel/Palestine, but doing it and doing it right are two different things. I love the variations in poetic form...when a book has me Googling the rhyme scheme for pantoum but manages to not be intimidating, that is a beautiful thing. I also love that the book experiments with Arabic poetry forms, and yet there's plenty of simple forms in here, too, and free verse to not let the poetry interfere with the story.Most of my dings here are in the original as well...no, it doesn't make sense that Romeo and Juliet fall in love immediately, but they do. Also, the voices can be hard to differentiate. I appreciate the author cleared that up in the back matter.I won't say anything about the ending here except to say that it surprised me in several ways, all of them good. A lovely book for our times.

This is the first book I have read in verse so I have nothing to compare it to but I really enjoyed it! I loved the modern day retelling of Romeo & Juliet and I loved it being set in a country I really know nothing about. I found the culture and the politics of it very interesting and also made me happy that I grew up and live where I do. There is a lot of talk these days of books being told in their "own voices" which this was not. I agree that own voices books are very important but I also don't think we should discount a book because it is not an own voice author. If you read the acknowledgments she did a lot of research and got help from people of Israeli and Palestinian descent. So I don't think this book should be passed up or written off just because it is not an own voices book.

** spoiler alert ** I absolutely loved this book. It was a quick read that I thoroughly enjoyed. My only real problem with it was the ending. It didn't really have one. The book doesn't tell you if the protagonists get away with their plan, or if they die as in Romeo & Juliet (which this book is based on). I would have preferred having a sad ending that wrapped things up than never knowing what occurred. It's a bit infuriating when an author decides to leave the ending ambiguous, and I don't think it works well in this case. Otherwise, I loved the storytelling method (the whole book is in prose) and the interpretation of Romeo & Juliet into a modern day story based upon real world events.Also, the copy I picked up from the library had deckled edges!!! (Always a plus.)