Vinegar Girl

Retelling one of the most famous plays of the Bard, placing it in our boring modern era, is not an easy task. However, Vinegar Girl is anything but boring. I always thought that The Taming of the Shrew has some of the quirkiest characters created by Shakespeare, and the protagonists in Vinegar Girl are as quirky as you can get.
The story takes place in 21st century Baltimore. Katherine is changed to Kate, Petruchio has become Pyotr, Bianca is Bunny and Senior Baptista is now Dr. Battista. What I found extremely clever is the presence of Edward as Bunny's beau, disguised as her Spanish tutor, a plot that is significant in The Taming of the Shrew. However, in Vinegar Girl, Bunny is a hard-to-like, obnoxious teenager, not at all the meek, sweet girl in Shakespeare's play, and Edward is light years away from Lucentio.
This is a beautiful, feel-good story. It demonstrates how difficult is for someone who does not follow the established social norms to be accepted, especially by their family. I can say I fully identified with Kate, and our Pyotr is a perfect match for our heroine. Oh, and don't worry: “Kiss me, Kate” is still there.