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  • Published: 7 May 2024
  • ISBN: 9780593406779
  • Imprint: Dutton
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 336
  • RRP: $26.00

Enter the Body




In the room beneath a stage's trapdoor, Shakespeare’s dead teenage girls—Juliet, Ophelia, Cordelia, and others—compare their experiences and retell the stories of their lives in their own terms.

A SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • Shakespeare’s most tragic heroines find new voices in this compelling novel-in-verse for young adults.

“Radically creative . . . This provocative book could inspire all kinds of fresh approaches to the plays, not to mention lots of engaging writing projects for students.”—The Washington Post

“A strong, powerful look at the bonds women share and the power telling stories has to unburden us all.”—School Library Connection, starred review

Enter the Body gives voice to a cast of the young women who die in Shakespeare’s most iconic plays. Focusing on the stories of Juliet, Ophelia, and Cordelia, bestselling author of Blood Water Paint Joy McCullough brilliantly weaves retellings of Romeo & Juliet, Hamlet, and King Lear into a larger story of young women reclaiming their stories in the aftermath of trauma. Join these iconic characters on their journey as they navigate love, betrayal, and ultimately, redemption.

  • Published: 7 May 2024
  • ISBN: 9780593406779
  • Imprint: Dutton
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 336
  • RRP: $26.00

About the author

Joy McCullough

Joy McCullough is a playwright and the New York Times bestselling author of several books for children and young adults, including Blood Water Paint, which was longlisted for the National Book Award and was a finalist for the William C. Morris Award. She studied theater at Northwestern Univer­sity, fell in love with her husband atop a Guatemalan volcano, and writes books and plays from her home in the Seattle area.

Also by Joy McCullough

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Praise for Enter the Body

“At once tender, poetic and ferocious, Enter The Body breathes new life into the Bard’s most tragic heroines. More than a tribute to Shakespeare, this kaleidoscopic, ambitious novel-in-verse gives Juliet, Ophelia, Cordelia, and Lavinia the chance to tell their own stories full of passion, justice, sisterhood, and love. Simply spectacular.”—Two-Time National Book Award Finalist and Michael L. Printz Award Winner Laura Ruby, author of Bone Gap

* "A strong, powerful look at the bonds women share and the power telling stories has to unburden us all."—SLC, starred review

* "This shifting, experimental format will surprise and challenge readers’ ideas of storytelling and “classic” literature. By innovatively mining feminist themes of autonomy, exploitation, and patriarchy, McCullough boldly reconceptualizes Shakespeare’s version of the female point of view for a new generation of Bard enthusiasts."—The Horn Book, starred review

“At once tender, poetic and ferocious, Enter The Body breathes new life into the Bard’s most tragic heroines. More than a tribute to Shakespeare, this kaleidoscopic, ambitious novel-in-verse gives Juliet, Ophelia, Cordelia, and Lavinia the chance to tell their own stories full of passion, justice, sisterhood, and love. Simply spectacular.”—Two-Time National Book Award Finalist and Michael L. Printz Award Winner Laura Ruby, author of Bone Gap

* "A strong, powerful look at the bonds women share and the power telling stories has to unburden us all."—SLC, starred review

* "This shifting, experimental format will surprise and challenge readers’ ideas of storytelling and “classic” literature. By innovatively mining feminist themes of autonomy, exploitation, and patriarchy, McCullough boldly reconceptualizes Shakespeare’s version of the female point of view for a new generation of Bard enthusiasts."—The Horn Book, starred review