This Must Be Love

A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of Shakespeare's funnier comedies and Tui Sutherlands adaptation This Must Be Love keeps that tone faithfully. Updated for today's teens, even the names stay the same (Hermia, Helena, etc.), though some plot points deviate (in interesting ways) from the original.

In this version, Hermia and Helena are best friends. Hermia is the funny artsy one in love with Alex. Helena is the rich, slightly spoiled one in love with Dmitri, the new guy who has a serious competition thing going with Alex (past history at a different school). Theres also Nick Weaver, the school quarterback, who has had a thing for Helena for years (and is much nicer than the oily Dmitri).

Similar to the original, the high point in the story is when the "fairies" (in this case, a theater troupe that Hermia would love to work with) meddle around and get everything even more confused than it already was. But, like all good comedies, things work out in the end to often hilarious results.

Told through notes, diary entries, and more traditional formats, this book is a quick read and would complement a study of the original play well. I recommend this book for ages 12 and up.