William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Mean Girls

by Ian Doescher, Kent Barton (Illustrator)

Celebrate Tina Fey's Mean Girls with this illustrated adaptation of the cult classic script, retold in Shakespearean verse by the best-selling author of William Shakespeare's Star Wars .

On Wednesdays we array ourselves in pink! Mean Girls gets an Elizabethan makeover in this totally fetch comedy of manners about North Shore High’s queen bees, wannabes, misfits, and nerds. Written in the style of the Bard of Avon, William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Mean Girls tells the story of Cady Heron’s rise from home-schooled jungle freak to one of the most popular girls in school. Every scene and line of dialogue from the iconic script is reimagined in authentic Shakespearean rhyme, meter and stage directions, complete with dramatic asides from Janis, Damian, Gretchen, and Karen. By the end, you’ll be surprised that Shakespeare didn’t pen this classic story of rivalries, betrayal, jealousy, obsession, and fastidious rule-making about when one can and cannot wear sweatpants.

Genres: Humor, Fiction, Plays, Retellings, Young Adult, Shakespeare, Poetry

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2019

About the author

Ian is the author of the William Shakespeare Star Wars series and the Pop Shakespeare series, and other books. He's a Portland native, and lives in Portland with his family.

Reviews

[Justin Tate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious! Shakespearean language is the perfect fit for Mean Girls. I've often fantasized of iambic pentameter returning to fashion. These Quirk Book mashups may be as close as it gets, but I'm not disappointed. Like Shakespeare, it's best to experience this performed and I have to say the full cast audiobook nails it. The only way to read this book, in my opinion.

If it seems like a gimmick, it is, but a really really really well-done gimmick. I like that some original Shakespeare is peppered into the lines to demonstrate their endless relevance. Many artists have interacted with Shakespeare in playful, modern ways, but I don't know of anyone else who's fully tried to mimmick the bard's own writing. Doescher does it masterfully, giving us literary nerds all the inside joke humor we could dream of while also crafting some truly deep, moving lines. Well done! Can't wait for his next mashup, MacTrump, that comes out in October.

[Jessica (Odd and Bookish) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book for free from the publisher (Quirk Books) in exchange for an honest review.

OMG this book was hilarious! Mean Girls is one of my all time favorite movies so I was so excited to read this book.

This book is basically the entire Mean Girls movie turned into a Shakespearean play. The author did an amazing job translating it into a Shakespeare play. All the iconic lines (“You go Glen Coco!”, “The limit does not exist”, etc.) were given a Shakespeare makeover. Even “Jingle Bell Rock” which is played in the iconic Christmas show scene got translated.



The author also did a good job putting in stage directions. The movie does jump around a lot and the author managed to make it work by utilizing a balcony. I totally want to see this play come to life on the stage!

The book also has cute little illustrations throughout which were a nice touch.

If you are not familiar with Shakespearean plays, the author does include some helpful notes at the end that explain the elements.

Basically, I loved how the book made Shakespeare so accessible to modern reader by combining it with a movie a lot of people know and love. It helps makes Shakespeare less intimidating.

Overall, this is a must read for all Mean Girls and/or Shakespeare fans. I also recommend it for people looking for an introduction to Shakespeare but may not be ready for his actual work.

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I received a finished copy courtesy of a Quirk Books. I am grateful for the opportunity to review a book for my readers, but this will not influence my final rating. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and based solely on the book.

Omigosh, this was so much fun. I want to go binge watch this movie again and bask in its iconicness again. This totally is exactly how you thought it would go with Shakespeare and Mean Girls fun.

This story is honestly if Mean Girls takes place in a Shakespearean world. It is the same story of Mean Girls with a few slight differences (I didn't pick them up), but it Shakespeare classic writing style. It's full of cute illustrations, iambic pentameter, and more. A good knowledge of Mean Girls is quite helpful, but I have to say that even though it's been some time since I've seen it, it came back instantly and the story told it well.

I wasn't entirely sure how well Mean Girls would translate into Shakespeare, but honestly, it worked so well. The writing and the formats of the asides/coming in and out of the balconies were amazing. It totally worked well with the drama and the classic, iconic quotes in Shakespeare's language was so amazing.

Shakespeare has never been a huge for thing for me since I haven't always been able to figure out what he was saying. However, Doescher did such a great job for making Shakespeare accessible and interesting for those that aren't the biggest Shakespeare fan. It's also such a quick read that still allows you for investment in the story and characters.

While this was funny, I never fully got laugh out loud funny for me. I think I was so focused on trying to read the Shakespeare type writing. That was the only thing that kept me from being fully into it for a five crown read. But it was still wildly entertaining and totally brought the happy, fun feels.

rating: 4 crowns & an Ariel rating
representation: n/a
content warnings: homophobic slur (same ones that come with Mean Girls the movie)

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is by far the most entertaining way to read Shakespeare.

[Kyra Leseberg (Roots & Reads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ian Doescher is basically a genius and I'm obsessed with pretty much everything Quirk Books publishes!
Doescher has an entire series devoted to pop culture retellings ...in iambic pentameter.  Yes, you read that right!  Classic films like Mean Girls, Clueless, Back to the Future, and even Star Wars are retold in Shakespearean iambic pentameter, adding a quirky spin on pop culture history.

What more can I say?  If reading Shakespeare plays in school bored you - this won't.

It's all here:  Jealous and bitter rivals. Betrayal. The Burn Book. The winter talent show.  Mean Girls is a perfect Shakespearean drama that translates so well to this format.

If you loved the movie Mean Girls or just appreciate pop culture, give William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Mean Girls a try!

For more reviews, visit www.rootsandreads.wordpress.com

[OutlawPoet · Rating 5 out of 5]

On Wednesdays we wear...Ruffs?


For this to be a successful read, you should really love two things: Shakespeare and Mean Girls. Yep, this is a wonderfully funny and sly homage to Mean Girls...in Shakespearean English.

There are some sly Easter Eggs for fans of the movie - punny uses of Fey and fey for example and The Bard's wit seems to mesh perfectly with the film's wit.

The story is funny and well told and, yes, I think Will would have gotten a kick out of the drama, betrayals and tragedy of...high school.

Very nicely done!

[Sydney S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Extremely creative and funny, but not one I'll be recommending. Very impressive writing skills, and I'm sure it was really difficult to write, but it was also difficult to stay focused and read for a solid hour. I have a decent understanding and respect for Shakespeare, but I think I have a little bit of a trigger problem with him after two semesters of cram-reading his plays and sonnets. This would be a great coffee table book, but I wouldn't recommend reading it like you would any other book. I think people with a better attention span than me might be able to do that though.

[Darla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rounded up from 3.5 stars. Clever blending of pop culture and classic Shakespeare. I am less familiar with the movie Mean Girls, but I loved all the Shakespeare quotes inserted throughout the book. Since I was reading an ARC, the format was a bit difficult to follow at times. I have no doubt the finished product will be well received by the Mean Girls fandom.

Thank you to Quirk Books and Edelweiss for providing a digital ARC of this new release in exchange for an honest review.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Necessary? No.
Funny and entertaining? Yes.

“On Wednesdays, we array ourselves in pink!”

Thanks to Netgalley and Quirk Books for the ARC

[Sara (A Gingerly Review) · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fun read! I adore this movie so much so reading it like a Shakespeare play was amazing.

Huge thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy of the book! ❤️

[Leena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely funny! I did not expect this book to be as good as it is. There are a lot of references to other Shakespeare plays and the author plays with the original movie really well.
I don’t know if it will be as funny to someone who does not know both some Shakespeare plays and the movie "Mean Girls" — but I definitely recommend it to everyone who is a fan of both!

[The Batman (Reagan) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three and a half stars, rounded up to four. Unfortunately, Mean Girls in iambic pentameter is still Mean Girls.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

they call him the immortal bard for a – Oh my god, it’s Miss Norburry, she’s coming to push you!!

[Samantha Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was shocked and amazed at how well the words of my beloved bard melded into every line of Mean Girls. I laughed, I took frequent screen shots, I sent lines to everyone I could think of—this adaption is clever, hilarious, and so satisfying. The translated sketches are also a nice touch, making the Slam Book look like a witch’s book of shadows in a high school Shakespeare textbook. I bought a copy of this already because I knew I needed to own it for posterity, so that should be a glowing review. I will warn those who haven’t watched the source material enough to quote it—it’s for fans, not for newcomers. This will make little to no sense to anyone who doesn’t speak fluent Mean Girls.

[Alicia Herrington]

Librarian: Question, how do you get kids interested in learning the basics of Shakespearean literature? How do you get them to understand the idea of iambic pentameter, or get them introduced to the way that Shakespearean language sounds, or how it looks on the page? Well, if you're Ian Doescher, you take classic films and rewrite them into plays that read exactly as they would if the Bard himself had written them.
Many students actively resist the idea of studying Shakespeare. They think that his plays are boring, and difficult to understand. They don't see the point. I believe that at least a part of this stems from the fact that they don't know HOW to read Shakespeare. Doescher's books can help to rectify that. By telling stories that students are already familiar with in Shakespeare's style, these books can provide a gateway into the way that Shakespearean literature is written. That in turn can make it easier for students to understand Shakespeare's actual plays.
Highly recommend that any teen and any school librarian keep a copy of both the books in Doescher's William Shakespeare's Star Wars series, as well as this book and future books that he may write in this series on hand. I think that they may prove themselves useful as not only a form of entertainment, but also as a teaching aide.
Reader: I am not a fan of Mean Girls. Never have been, probably never will be, frequent humming of "I'd Rather Be Me" from the Mean girls musical notwithstanding. I just have never been all that in to Teen/High School movies. I knew that going in.
However, I am a HUGE fan of Ian Doescher's Willam Shakespeare's Star Wars series. as well as his delightful Shakespearean retelling of A Christmas Carol. I also knew that going in. So the question became, could Doescher transform a story I'd never really cared for into a book that I enjoyed reading? The answer is yes. Mostly. Oh, I still don't love the plot. And much like his Star Wars series, there is tendency to rely slightly too heavily on Shakespeare references and jokes. Those jokes can way the text down slightly, as they require the reader to have a decent level of familiarity with Shakespeare's plays. If the reader doesn't have that familiarity, much if the humor could be lost. Still, it's a good book, if slightly uneven feeling. I don't love it, but I did enjoy it. And I suppose that's good enough.
Reading Challenge: 52 Weeks - Week #5: A Play

[Rachel Bridgeman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cleverly melding classic playwriting with a modern classic movie, Ian has created a really funny and witty reproduction. It reads exactly like the plays you remember-and probably dreaded-at school and is illustrated throughout. For those who might be put off, fear not, it may be set out like a play but as you read, you inevitably see the entire film play out in your mind's personal cinema.

Basically it's like reading a screenplay!

''Pink is the pigment of a welcomed soul.
Pink is the cheek that blusheth when in love.
Pink is the underside of newborn feet.
Pink is the lush camellia on the bush.''

I absolutely loved the 'Shakespeare does Star Wars' series-to me they are the right length and the central joke of both series is neither belaboured nor overdone. This is purely a fan's response to cultural icons and also a reminder about the universality and longevity of Shakespeare's themes.

"Nay, Gretchen. Fetch shall never catch.
Stop hosting an event no one attends."

The bard may be enough to make people groan but taking this beloved classic and applying modern mores actually makes you understand the film better as well as teasing the reader into finding out more about Shaespeare.

The plays of England's most well known and revered writer were made for as wide an audience as possible, they were made to be watched and enjoyed en masse, they were not the remit of the rich and privileged. In his books, Ian Doescher is bridging the gap by exploring the modern phenomenons of cliques, high school adolescence and peer pressure by comparing it to, amongst others, ''Much Ado About Nothing', 'The Tempest, and 'Romeo And Juliet'.

Whilst laughing at Sheakespeare-d classic lines of dialogue, the reader is taking in the features of the writing (for example, iambic pentameter and the Shakespearean sonnet) so whilst it does not take long to read, this short book leaves a lasting impression.

I for one loved it and am very much looking forward to 'MacTrump'!

[Joi · Rating 3 out of 5]

'Tis fairly fetch. Cute "retelling" of Mean Girls as a Shakespeare play. This is literally the movie Mean Girls, written in Shakespearean language, set as a play. I appreciated the afterword which explained some of the pentameter, some of the themes to look for and why they are reminiscent of early works. I loved finding bits of "hidden" references within the lines (Many from Much Ado About Nothing). I liked that each girl was reminiscent of an actual character from a play.

Some lines were absolutely hilarious, and reading the characters, plots, dialogue ranged from pure gold to eye rolling. The "problem" was as an avid Mean Girls fan, this brought absolutely nothing new to the table. It went line for line, scene by scene copied from the movie. No adaptations, no new interpretations, it was too literal. I LOVE the movie, and maybe I'm just comparing this to the musical- which DID reinterpret something, and bring new ideas, characteristics, and some female feminism to the table. This book obviously took a lot of work and commitment to write, but I wanted something MORE. Altogether just a quick entertaining read that I will vaguely remember- absolutely nothing more than that.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think it's meant more for fans of "Mean Girls" who like/can tolerate iambic pentameter than it is for Shakespeare fans. I've never seen "Mean Girls", so got a few references, but some went over my head. Still, I think the idea is clever, and i would probably read another one of his mashups.

[Caitlyn DeRouin · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a lover of Mean Girls (more so the musical than the film, though I did grow up watching the film) and an intense lover of Shakespeare, this was right up my alley. A quick and easy read but thoroughly entertaining, especially if you know the film frame by frame. It was so interesting to see how the author translated Mean Girls to classic Shakespearian text, I also enjoyed the references to some of my favorite Shakespeare plays (especially Regina saying "If I be waspish, best beware my sting" a personal favorite quote of mine) as well as how each of the female characters embodied one of Shakespeare's female characters.

If you enjoy Mean Girls and Shakespeare take a little time to read this, you'll be entertained.

[Bethany (Beautifully Bookish Bethany) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Quirk Books for sending me a review copy of this highly entertaining book! In the same vein as the Shakespeare Star Wars series, Ian Doescher repackages the classic film Mean Girls in iambic pentameter and Shakespearean language, with very funny results. As a bit of a Shakespeare nerd who is relatively familiar with that language, I found this to be often hilarious and a very easy read. This will probably appeal to others who can navigate Shakespearean language and don't mind an irreverant take on pop culture that plays homage to the Bard. I recognized bits of dialogue from Shakespeare woven in, including some lines from Much Ado About Nothing. This was just a lot of fun!

[Kayte · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only thing in life I love more than wine is books, but Shakespeare and Mean Girls are both quite high on my list as well. Having both combined is a fantastic treat, and I love the fact that it feels performance-ready. Though the translation isn't always flawless, the overall experience is a delightful one that I recommend to anyone whose passions include the Plastics and the Bard.

[britt_brooke · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read Doescher’s Shakespeare “Clueless” Elizabethan makeover a few years ago, and loved every moment. It’s my fave movie of all time so zero prep needed. I did, however, need to rewatch “Mean Girls” before this, and I’m so glad I did. Doescher is funny and incredibly clever. I really enjoyed this “retelling” whilst picturing the brilliant film cast in my mind. Fans must read!

[Julie ~ thecaffeinatedreader · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

I'm always impressed by the innovative ideas some people come up with. Mean Girls in iambic pentameter? Hilarious! This book combines two things I love: Shakespeare and the chick flick classic "Mean Girls". This book was right up my alley and I can't wait to find a place on my bookshelf for it next to the collected works of the Bard of Avon (so he'll be in good company there).

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Imagine the entire Mean Girls movie written out like a Shakespeare play complete with the language and rhythms you would expect from William Shakespeare. That’s Much Ado About Mean Girls. It’s utterly fabulous. It’s so funny and reads very quickly. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes Shakespeare and enjoyed Mean Girls.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

such fun to read!

[Markus · Rating 4 out of 5]

it was actually me who pushed Regina George

[Zach · Rating 5 out of 5]

I watched this movie just to read the book. Backwards I know, but I’ve never seen this before.

Anyway, the book was hilarious and spot on.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

By my troth, a book I've not seen before.
A twist upon my teenage film int'rests
With good humor and wit it doth adorn
My senses and pleaseth me so, I say
Do pick up this good book of Sir Doescher
And enjoy the Plastics in this new form!

[Rheathebookwormdreamergirl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love this! It is so clever, well written, and captures both elements of Shakespeare and Mean Girls!

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun adaptation of Mean Girls set in Shakespearean prose. I listed to the audiobook, and had a really enjoyable time envisioning this cult classic in the time of Shakespeare. As I was listening I kept wondering if the author had gone far enough in the adaptation. There were several instance where the contemporary jokes didn't quite land in iambic pentameter, and I thought maybe the author should have adapted further to bring the joke into the time period he was writing from. Pantaloons or petticoats instead of "army pants" and slippers instead of "flip flops" is one that comes to mind. Overall the book was enjoyable, and it would be fun to actually watch as a play.