Noughts & Crosses

by Sabrina Mahfouz

Sephy and Callum sit together on a beach. They are in love. It is forbidden. Sephy is a Cross and Callum is a Nought. Between Noughts and Crosses there are racial and social divides. A segregated society teeters on a volatile knife-edge. As violence breaks out, Sephy and Callum draw closer, but this is a romance that will lead them into terrible danger. This gripping Romeo and Juliet story by acclaimed writer Malorie Blackman is a captivating drama of love, revolution and what it means to grow up in a divided world. Sabrina Mahfouz's stage adaptation first toured the UK in 2019 and won the Excellence in Touring category at the UK Theatre Awards. It was commissioned and presented by Pilot Theatre in co-production with Derby Theatre, Belgrade Theatre Coventry, Mercury Theatre Colchester and York Theatre Royal. 'Malorie Blackman's bestseller leaps off the stage in a fine new adaptation' Observer 'A searing insight into the injustices of the world… Mahfouz's adaptation highlights some deep truths and sharp parallels with the here and now' The Stage

Genres: Plays, School, Romance, Dystopia, Fiction, Young Adult, Contemporary

108 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 9, 2014

Reviews

[hisjdkhfg]

I don't care that I read this for school, I'm finishing my reading challenge

[Amelia · Rating 1 out of 5]

gcse drama 😍

[mia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Following Sylvie’s example (I am FINISHING this reading challenge) Honestly, although I appreciate what a good write Malorie Blackman is and how well and cleverly she portrayed segregation, I just do not like the whole Romeo and Juliet, Edward and Bella star crossed lovers trope. I didn’t like it in Romeo and Juliet (even though I usually enjoy Shakespeare) and I do not like it here. I also pretty much predicted the whole plot, so you know that kinda ruined it too.

[Camie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dystopian YA- Callum and Sephy’s bittersweet love story set in a future society divided by racial bigotry and classism.
3 stars for this stage adaption version which I bought by accident to complete my 💯 Books chart.

[Caitlin Farrell · Rating 3 out of 5]

tense | accessible | imaginative

[Lexieeebook · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I’ll like the actual book more, not the script

[Haaagrid · Rating 3 out of 5]

On dirait un peu c'est un enfant qui a écrit, genre c'est très cliché et extrêmement dramatique, tout le monde est pendu et la go est enceinte à 15 ans mais le concept est intéressant

[Amelia 💞 · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75 ⭐️
will probably be more when i read the actual book

[Ava McGuirk · Rating 3 out of 5]

blanker
sorry reading challenge must lock in

[nellherself · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had to read this for school and personally didn’t like it. I’d already read the original book and didn’t really like that either. It’s not the kind of thing I’d usually read.

[Amani Enayetullah · Rating 5 out of 5]

We have all read books about forbidden love and prejudice. Novels with the Romeo and Juliet theme are constantly being written. Nowadays, they are so common, we don’t really think much about them. At least this is what I thought until I read Noughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman. The book tackles the concepts of forbidden love and prejudice in a way that wasn’t cliché at all, unlike many other books of its genre.
The two main characters, Sephy Hadley and Calum, are from two different worlds. Sephy is from a very powerful ¨Cross¨ family, which are the ruling class of society, as they are apparently closer to God. Callum comes from an average ¨Nought¨ family. Noughts are considered second class citizens. In this world, relationships between Crosses and Naughts are forbidden. In fact, it is unthinkable that a Nought and Cross would ever fall in love. But, Sephy and Callum will not stand for this and still sneak away from their worlds to come and meet each other halfway.
Everything changes when Callum starts going to the same school as Sephy. Personally, I think that this is when the underlying theme of prejudice really kicks in. Callum is tormented, discriminated against, made fun of, and treated unfairly, all because he is lighter than everyone else. Everyday he has to go to school and put up with all the name calling and prejudice that is pointed towards him. Reading about what Callum was going through broke my heart. The fact that these people won’t get to know him or acknowledge him just because of his skin color is unacceptable. Malorie Blackman did a phenomenal job with creating this realistic scenario. Most authors just want you to sympathise with the character, but she made the reader connect with Callum in these situations.
Noughts & Crosses is outstanding novel about the prejudice that lies not only in Callum and Sephy’s world, but in ours as well. The personalities portrayed in Malorie Blackburn’s novel still live in the real world. Whether we want to admit it or not, our world is still a lot like the one created in this book. And that is what I liked so much about this particular novel, because it was so realistic, every moment that lies within this book could easily happen in real life. All in all, Malorie Blackman’s Noughts & Crosses is an outstanding book that I would recommend to anyone and everyone.

[Joshua Allerton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Note: this is a review for the RSC's adaptation.

We can agree that Malorie Blackman's story is amazing. It really makes you sit and think about the world. In terms of this adaptation, I was a little disappointed with Dominic Cooke. He used cheap ways to get a message over to the audience and seemed to not give any consideration to the limitations of the theatre. I would have loved to see this in theatre, just to see how they coped with it. But, that shouldn't take us away from a grand story Noughts and Crosses is.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book seems like it would be the blech love story between a black and a white, however it really makes you think what it would be like to live in a world when people will kill you if you love someone of a different race. The books plot is an extremely suspensful yet so true and believable one so that you can imagine yourself being Persephone who is raised in the lap of luxury. Then there is the complete opposite, Callem, who is a hard working white boy.

[Yousra & Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book twice and cried like a baby each and everytime! I don't think I'll ever be able to read the rest of the sequel knowing that Callum is gone!

[Thalia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this in my drama lesson at school and fell in love with the story. The message it sends about judgement, stereotypes etc and Sephy and Callum deserved so much better.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful adaptation! Would love to see it on stage

[mollyreads · Rating 3 out of 5]

had to read for my gcse drama course

[Ruqayyah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings- though it is a play (which I performed and read for school), it is based on the book, which I don't think I'll be reading any time soon.
The racism upsets and annoys me- and I guess that's the point but I feel like little hope is given, in terms of the society being less segregated.
Also, to say this is a Romeo and Juliet retelling hurts because, while there are similarities, it just doesn't feel right and the romance was let's-not-go-there.
Why I am giving it three stars, I don't know- it covers something important but I am not satisfied and was disappointed at the end of the book. What can one expect from a school book?

[James Mi · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the beginning, I thought the book is talking about racism and inequality in our society based on the stunning idea of nought and cross. I have no idea why it suddenly changed to a tragic drama like story, Romeo and Juliet in the modern day. Where’s the insight about racism I expected? Is the writer suggest ing that joining to some sort of terrorism is the only way to tackle the problem? The baby is too much. The good thing about this book is u can finish it in a day, good deal right?

[Kevin Norton · Rating 3 out of 5]

A faithful reproduction of the novel - certainly a more accessible route into the issues we want to discuss in the classroom, although unavoidably lacking the emotional punch of the original version where you get to inhabit Callum and Sephy’s lives more fully.

Choosing between this and the Mahfouz adaptation for use in the classroom. Definitely stage craft, language and issues that we can work with here.

[Harrison Martin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Studying this text for drama GCSE, I have had the opportunity to dive deeply into Cooke's writing, and I find it to be somewhat underwhelming. The dialogue feels forced and wholly unrealistic, and the ending is almost painful given the journey we have gone on to get there. The only saving grace for this play is the original concept - not conceived by Cooke - and the theatrical style, as it does show well technically if not on paper.

[Ethan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! I read this book last year and it impacted me every way possible. I think it definitely shows to white people why BLM and other similar organisations, are needed in todays society. I would presume the book version is better than this, and for that reason I could not really get a proper judgement, but it was still good either way.

[Chris Griglack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great underlying story, but told in the most condensed and least subtle way possible. There are over 20 scene changes in each act, some of which are just to show a soliloquy in a new location. Because of the rushed pace, characters seem to just change their minds and feelings from scene to scene with no additional information or context in between.

[Amiee Alanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

The novel of this story is one of my favourite books. I think seeing the play adaptation on stage would be amazing, but on the page, it doesn't work as well. There isn't much character development and characters I cried over in the novel, I found I didn't care at all for. My students will love this though when I teach it this half term!

[Mim Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

YA fiction is often a little on the nose, and this certainly is. I prefer the novel, though I really should say I prefer what I remember of the novel as I haven’t read it since being a teenager myself. While the writing of this stage version is a little too simplistic for me, the story is fantastic.

[Jess]

Read this in preparation for starting my teacher training.

Love the concept and the execution. A really interesting and engaging plot, with lots of action and slower paced scenes. The characters were dynamic but I wish we could've seen more of a build up in Sephy and Callum's relationship.
Reading this has made me want to read the full book!

[Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Could not finish - I like the idea of subverting racial 'prestige' but there was no creative flare other than subversion. The writing style is very basic, literal and not descriptive or extensive. This was a disappointment.

[Stacey Plumb · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sickening reminder of what effect racism can have on society and each individual member. Very well written and I think it’s important to reflect on stories like this one and remember the lessons they teach us and put them to use in our daily lives.

[Daisy Leather · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, the 'Noughts and Crosses' series is one of my ultimate all time favourite book series of all time.

And this was pretty faithful to the book. Down to a T.

A wonderful adaptation which I would absolutely LOVE to watch one day.

[Alec Foster]

brilliant