Much Ado About Nothing?

I am currently reading a book titled The Confessions of a Triple Shot Betty. When I picked up the book in the library Friday morning it was more out of boredom than anything else. I wanted something i could read quickly and could get into. What surprised me is that, upon reading the back cover about the author, her inspiration came from Shakespeare's play Much Ado About Nothing. The play itself, which i can almost recite the entire thing by heart, is about when friends get involved in others lives and enemies make a mess for no reason. I realized that the names were similar; The main character's real name is Beatrice, her cousins name is Hero, (who are cousins in the play) and her best friend's real name is Margaret (who in the play is Hero's gentlewoman). The guy's names are indirectly similar as well. There is a Claudio, who coincidently, falls in love with Hero in the book and the play, the character of Count John is portrayed as John, the half-brother of "the prince", PJ. The set up love interest of Beatrice is Ben, who has a similar likeness to Senior Benedict. While i scanned these similarities, i wondered if my own familiarity with Much Ado About Nothing will ruin the ending for me.

What I like about this book is that it subtly introduces Shakespeare to a generation of children that go their whole life, never being able to name one Shakespearian play other than Romeo and Juliet. This might indeed inspire students to pick up the play and read it, and maybe show interested in the other stories such as The Taming of the Shrew, Hamlet, A Midsummer Nights Dream, and The Tempest. Once you get over the funny language, it can be quite enjoyable. I encourage my fellow students to challenge themselves and read the plays written by the amazing play writer, William Shakespeare.

-Lauren Leslie Salas