"Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?” Teenagers have been sighing an approximation of these words for centuries, ever since William Shakespeare had Juliet utter them from her balcony in one of the most popular plays of all time, Romeo and Juliet. Tales of love, loss, rebellion, rivalry-before there was Twilight, Warm Bodies, and The Lion King, there was Shakespeare. The characters, language, imagery, and plot elements of many books and movies that appear on bookshelves and in cinemas today are directly influenced by the plays of the Bard. In Shakespeare: Investigate the Bard's Influence on Today's World, readers discover links between the books, movies, and music they listen to today and the words that were written and acted out more than 400 years ago. Readers deconstruct Shakespearean themes, imagery, language, and meaning by finding familiar ground on which to gain literary insight. Through hands-on projects such as coding a video game based on one of Shakespeare's plays to rewriting a scene in the text language of emoji, readers find compelling avenues into the dramatic, sometimes intimidating language, leaving them well-equipped to tackle any major text in the academic years to come.

Andi Diehn is a writer and editor with an MFA in Creative Writing from Vermont College. She has published dozens of articles, stories, and essays, and is the author of Explore Poetry! With 25 Great Projects and Technology: Cool Women Who Code for Nomad Press. She lives in Enfield, New Hampshire, with her family.

Sam Carbaugh is a freelance cartoonist and illustrator. He has illustrated several books for Nomad Press, including Forensics: Uncover the Science and Technology of Crime Scene Investigation and Robotics: Discover the Science and Technology of the Future. Most recently he wrote and illustrated Comics: Investigate the History and Technology of American Cartooning. Sam lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan.