Hey, so I did some scholarly research again. That was unexpected. This time I looked at a few of the articles in the book Reimagining Shakespeare for Children and Young Adults, mentioned in this post. You can take a look at the first Shakespeare's Legacy post here.
The last article I looked at discussed how Shakespearean themes manifest in modern YA lit, looking particularly at Bridge to Terabithia. Two of the articles that I read continued that train of thought. (I read some other articles from this book, and they are interesting but don't pertain to my subject.)
The first article is "Harry Potter and the Shakespearean Allusion" by Miranda Johnson-Haddad. Woo-hoo, Harry Potter! Everything is better with Harry Potter. Even the Doctor thinks that Shakespeare needs some good ol' J. K. Anyway, the article is about moments in the HP books that parallel moments in Richard III and Titus Andronicus. Unfortunately, the article was written when only four books were out, so some of the speculation is outdated and the examples could be better. However, the main point of the article is still relevant: Harry Potter, like Shakespeare, is concerned with "the relationship--the affinity, even--between good and evil" (168). Modern YA lit builds on themes that are explored dynamically in Shakespeare.
The second article is "Nutshells and Infinite Space" by Bruce Coville, which discusses the adaptation of Shakespeare stories into picture books. Coville also briefly discusses two of his regular middle grade novels that incorporate Shakespeare: one has actors during the California Gold Rush that perform Shakespeare, which helps the plot along, and the other is about a kid who finds a skull that makes him tell the truth--the skull happens to be Yorick's. Coville sums up nicely the reason, besides awesomeness, to include such Shakespeare references: "I was hoping that if I caught young readers with the thread of my story I could also pique their interest in the plays those stories came from" (58). He says that story is the "bait" to get kids hooked on Shakespeare because the Bard is, of course, the master storyteller.
This leads me into a loose thesis for this project: Shakespearean themes should be referenced and adapted by YA writers because Shakespeare is the ultimate storyteller. YA literature adaptations should inspire readers to look back at Shakespeare's "original" texts. Doing so will lead to better modern storytelling.
Sources
Coville, Bruce. "Nutshells and Infinite Space." Reimagining Shakespeare for Children and Young Adults. Ed. Naomi J. Miller. New York: Routledge, 2003. 56-66. Print.
Johnson-Haddad, Miranda. "Harry Potter and the Shakespearean Allusion." Reimagining Shakespeare for Children and Young Adults. Ed. Naomi J. Miller. New York: Routledge, 2003. 162-170. Print.
(See also my source page.)
