" Romeo + Juliet gets an update in this story of forbidden love. Shakespeare's never been so hip." -- Jenny B. Jones, author of The Charmed Life Series As the popular darling of the junior class and heiress to the five-star Monrovi Inn empire, Kate has both everything and nothing. She's bored with school and life...until she locks eyes with Caleb at a school dance. Caleb is new to Kate's exclusive prep school, and it's clear he doesn't fit in. In fact, he and his dad work in maintenance for Kate's father. And while Caleb knows better than to spend time with the boss's daughter, it seems that every time he tries to back away, something pulls him right back in. When their parents demand that they are to stay away from each other, they learn of a fight between their families that occurred more than fifty years ago. It's a mystery Kate doesn't understand...but a legacy Caleb has endured his entire life. With the world stacked against them, Caleb and Kate will have to walk by faith to find the path that God has planned for them. Imagine a Romeo and Juliet tale set on the beautiful Oregon coast. Kate’s dad is a wealthy hotel owner, and Caleb, newly arrived from Hawaii, works at one of the hotels. There’s some generations-old bad business between the two families that the two teens do not quite understand, but their elders do and work mightily to thwart their romance. The social scene at Kate’s posh school often slips into Gossip Girls parody mode, but the characters generally maintain their integrity well enough to propel the intriguing plot forward. Romance readers will thrill to the beautifully wrought raw emotion resonating in the two teens’ love for each other. Expect no Romeo and Juliet ending here, though, just some commonsense, satisfyingly realistic resolutions to a lot of complex issues with the families, and a chance for hope in the star-crossed lovers’ tale. Grades 7-10. --Anne OMalley Caleb + Kate By Cindy Martinusen-Coloma Thomas Nelson Copyright © 2010 Cindy Martinusen Coloma All right reserved. ISBN: 978-1-59554-678-4 Chapter One The course of true love never did run smooth. William Shake Speare The Tempest (Act 1, Scene 1) KATE "Love is like death's cold grip crushing the beats from an innocent heart." A ripple of muted laughter rolls through the girls around me, and I bite my lip to keep from joining them. Elaine dramatically recites her poem from where she stands at the front of the class, chewing at a hangnail, her knees angled as if she needs to use the bathroom. "Love is like a decaying tree on a warm spring day. It was born from pain and was fathered by suffering. Once upon a time, there was love and people believed in it, and then love died or perhaps it relocated to another planet, no one knows, though people still seek it, long for it, act like it's still around ..." I wonder when and how Elaine became so utterly strange. It's painful to watch and to hear the snickers among the other girls sitting in the theater-style seats, their feet tucked carefully beneath matching plaid skirts. "Women & Literature" is a semester class required of all females in our junior year. We meet in the drama classroom-with the stage and the seats-perhaps to subconsciously empower us young women to take the leading role on the stage of our lives. Or at least that's what Ms. Landreth said at the start of this semester. Part of me wants to take Elaine by the shoulders and shake some sense into her; another part of me wants to stand up and tell the other girls to be quiet and just listen. Elaine adjusts her black glasses, looking out at us as if she still cannot quite focus, despite the thick lenses. Her choppy raven-dyed hair looks like she cut it herself. "Love has died, like God and Romeo, and not even the birds can find a song to sing." A text from Katherine pops onto my phone: Need advice about prom . "Why believe in love, O Women? Oh, why do we want to believe in what cannot be believed in? Love divorced itself from mankind. Move on, hearts." Elaine finishes her poem and makes a bow, remaining at the front of the class as we offer awkward, halting applause. Monica leans toward me. "Wow, cheerful. That sounds like something you would say." "Thanks a lot," I whisper. "Elaine, that was quite a poem," Ms. Landreth says from the front row. She rises and addresses the class. "Comments or questions, ladies?" I write Katherine back without looking down at my phone. Brave of you to ask advice from me. Monica leans onto her hand with her elbow on the armrest, and whispers, "Did you hear Katherine and Blake broke up?" "Really? Who broke up with whom?" I whisper. "And why now?" Tomorrow night is the prom-who breaks up a six-month relationship the day before prom? Ms. Landreth clears her throat. "Kate, was that a question directed at Elaine?" At the Gaitlin Academy, pupils are encouraged to express their individualism through art, debate, athletics, or whatever