# Romeo and Juliet

**Author:** William Shakespeare
**Grade range:** Grades 8–10
**Age range:** 13–16
**First published:** 1597
**Page count:** 304
**Genre:** Drama
**ISBN-13:** `9780743477116`
**ISBN-10:** `0743477111`
**Canonical URL:** https://readinglist.school/book/romeo-and-juliet
**License:** [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) — please credit ReadingList.school when citing.

## About this book

Shakespeare's tragedy of two young lovers from feuding Verona households whose secret marriage and its aftermath end in a double suicide. The play is the near-universal ninth-grade Shakespeare introduction across US high school English curricula and a required text on most Common Core grade 9-10 reading lists.

## Themes

- young love
- family conflict
- fate
- civic violence
- haste and consequence
- gender and authority

## Content notes

- suicide
- stabbing violence
- sexual references

Common Sense Media age recommendation: 12+

## Where this book is assigned

### AQA GCSE English Literature (8702)

- **required** · 9th grade — [source: Set text in the AQA GCSE English Literature (8702) specification, component: Shakespeare. Specification for first teaching in 2015. Read 2026-10-03.](https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/english/gcse/english-8702/specification/subject-content/shakespeare-and-the-19th-century-novel)
- **required** · 10th grade — [source: Set text in the AQA GCSE English Literature (8702) specification, component: Shakespeare. Specification for first teaching in 2015. Read 2026-10-03.](https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/english/gcse/english-8702/specification/subject-content/shakespeare-and-the-19th-century-novel)

### Common Core State Standards (ELA)

- **required** · 9th grade — [source: CCSS ELA Appendix B, grades 9-10 drama exemplar](https://www.nysed.gov/sites/default/files/programs/standards-instruction/appendix-b-text-exemplars-and-sample-performance-tasks.pdf)
- **required** · 9th grade · California — [source: CA CCSS ELA grade 9 near-universal Shakespeare text](https://www.cde.ca.gov/)
- **required** · 9th grade · New York — [source: NY Next Gen Learning Standards grade 9 Shakespeare](https://www.nysed.gov/)
- **required** · 9th grade · Texas — [source: TEKS English I required Shakespeare](https://tea.texas.gov/)

### OCR GCSE English Literature (J352)

- **required** · 9th grade — [source: Set text in the OCR GCSE English Literature (J352) specification, component: Shakespeare. Version 3.0 (November 2025). Read 2026-10-03.](https://www.ocr.org.uk/Images/168995-specification-accredited-gcse-english-literature-j352.pdf)
- **required** · 10th grade — [source: Set text in the OCR GCSE English Literature (J352) specification, component: Shakespeare. Version 3.0 (November 2025). Read 2026-10-03.](https://www.ocr.org.uk/Images/168995-specification-accredited-gcse-english-literature-j352.pdf)

### Pearson Edexcel GCSE English Literature (1ET0)

- **required** · 9th grade — [source: Set text in the Pearson Edexcel GCSE English Literature (1ET0) specification, component: Shakespeare. Specification Issue 2, June 2019. Read 2026-10-03.](https://qualifications.pearson.com/content/dam/pdf/GCSE/English%20Literature/2015/specification-and-sample-assesment/9781446914359_GCSE_2015_L12_Englit.pdf)
- **required** · 10th grade — [source: Set text in the Pearson Edexcel GCSE English Literature (1ET0) specification, component: Shakespeare. Specification Issue 2, June 2019. Read 2026-10-03.](https://qualifications.pearson.com/content/dam/pdf/GCSE/English%20Literature/2015/specification-and-sample-assesment/9781446914359_GCSE_2015_L12_Englit.pdf)

### Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) — ELA

- **required** · 9th grade · Texas — [source: TEKS English I required Shakespeare](https://tea.texas.gov/)

## Banned / challenged record

Documented removals or formal challenges in at least one school district in 1 state: TX. Source: [PEN America's Index of School Book Bans](https://pen.org/banned-book-list/) 2022-2024.

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