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More Shakespeare Re-Imagined

by Lucy S

"A riff on Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale, reimagining the character of the queen who becomes a statue as a devastatingly popular cheerleader who refuses to become a cautionary tale after she's sexually assaulted.” E.K. Johnston's web site

In Exit, Pursued By a Bear, a brilliant update of , E.K. Johnston takes one of Shakespeare’s most unconventional plays and turns it on its head. With character names and some plot points heavily inspired by the play, E.K. Johnston uses A Winter’s Tale as a platform from which to launch her well constructed and extremely relevant YA novel. Hermione Winters, the story’s main character, is the captain of a cheerleading team in a small town in Ontario, at a school for which cheerleading is a very big deal. At the beginning of the book, Hermione is heading off to her last summer of cheerleading camp with her best friend Polly and her boyfriend Leo. While at camp, Hermione is drugged and raped, and her life as she knows it changes. No longer the confident leader of the squad, Hermione struggles to come to terms with what happened to her and the way in which it alters her forever.

Shakespearean influences aside, E.K. Johnston’s book is an important contribution to young adult literature for a number of reasons. This book takes on the ugly but germane topic of rape in a brave and forthright manner. E.K. Johnston does not shy away from what happens to Hermione nor does she spend time focusing on the graphic details of it. What is central to the novel is the support that Hermione receives from many, sometimes unexpected people and the constant reminders to Hermione from these characters that she is not at fault. These messages are ones that cannot be reiterated enough for young adult readers, both male and female, today.

The strongest relationship in this book is the friendship between Hermione and Polly, and for E.K. Johnston to put this first speaks to the complexity teens face in balancing friends and romance and also to the idea that teens can feel many kinds of love. Acceptance is a theme that runs through , religious acceptance, acceptance of sexual orientation, acceptance of choices made, no matter how difficult. The strength in E.K. Johnston’s female characters comes through both physically and in spirit. Polly is a stellar example of this fortitude. There are many character throughout Exit, Pursued By a Bear that will stay with me for while.

In her note at the end of the book, E.K. Johnston recognizes that many sexual assault and rape victims might not have the support network that Hermione finds, and provides readers with resources for support in both the US and Canada. E.K. Johnston is giving us Hermione’s story as a possible outcome and in this, it is an exceptionally worthy pursuit.

Comments

Loving your consistent "shakespeare re-told" posts. Never having seen A Winter's Tale myself, this definitely makes me interested! I hope these posts keep coming, all the more books to add to my wishlist! Also if this type of story interests you, you should look up the book "Speak," by Laurie Halse Anderson. It's another story of a young woman in a tough situation, but with a strong narrative voice and a fantastic view into the internal struggle of someone with a big decision to make.

I am definitely NOT the biggest Shakespeare fan, but maybe these will help me learn a bit more of the bard's work.

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