Little Witches: Magic in Concord by Leigh Dragoon
In this historical fantasy, the March sisters are growing up in Civil War Concord–but they are also witches. Then Mr. Laurence and his grandson more in next door, and they just happen to be witch finders! A graphic novel retelling aimed at middle grade readers.
Jo: A Graphic Novel by Kathleen Gros
In this contemporary retelling, Jo is a thirteen-year-old who anonymously runs a blog about her family and starts to discover more about herself as she develops feelings for the girl editor of her school newspaper, Freddie Baer.
More to the Story by Hena Khan
Few retellings have come close to capturing the spirit of the Little Women like Hena Khan’s More to the Story. While it can be tempting to try to deliver the exact same plot line as Alcott, just updated with modern references, Khan goes beyond this to create an original work that is clearly inspired by Little Women, but does not try to be Little Women. And that is its magic. More to the Story emphasizes family relationships, friendship, and self-discovery to create a work that pays homage to Alcott with its depiction of modern girlhood, while still delivering its own compelling narrative.
Littler Women: A Modern Retelling by Laura Schaefer
Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy March receive a modern makeover in this retelling of Louisa May Alcott’s classic. They attend school dances, go to sleepovers, and have jobs babysitting. As they grow up, they hope to make their father, on active duty overseas as part of the National Guard, proud upon his return.
Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy by Rey Terciero and Bre Indigo
Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy is a Little Women updated for a modern audience. This means not only setting the story in modern-day New York City and featuring the Marches as a blended family, but also espousing contemporary values. Where Louisa May Alcott’s original novel may be said to have promoted virtues such as humility, hard work, and cheerfulness, Rey Terciero’s re-imagining promotes values of inclusion, diversity, and feminism. In many ways, this feels like the Little Women many readers have wanted all along. A graphic novel.
I adored the original so I have mixed feelings about modern adaptations. How can you improve on the classic LMA version, yet nowadays it may be too dated for a modern audience.
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So true! I love the original, so I can be pretty picky about what I want to see in an adaptation!
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Retellings make me so nervous to even attempt to read one. For a retelling to work, I want it to feel original while still having aspects of the original.
What I loved about Spinning Silver is how original it felt= in basically everything. The characters, the world, and the story. A retelling of Rumplstlskin, which didn’t feel like the original story at all- I was able to see aspects of the original story in the book.
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Yes, I like for retellings to capture a bit of the spirit of the original! I also enjoyed Spinning Silver.
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I believe that is the only retelling I read
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Great post, all of these sound amazing (especially the graphic novels). To add to this pile, the other day I saw the cover reveal for So Many Beginnings: A Little Women Remix by Bethany C. Morrow, it looks great
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I just saw that one, too, and I was sooo excited!!! I definitely want to read it! 😀
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Little Witches sound really fun! I haven’t heard of these, but I should check them out – I remember enjoying Little Women (but the sequels, not so much :p)
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I have had Little Witches on from the library for months. I don’t believe I’m ever going to get a copy at this rate!
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Ah, so I see I should reserve a copy now in order to read it at the end of the year :p
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Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy and More to the Story were both phenomenal. I’m going to be fair here and say that I have not actually read the original Little Women, but after reading those two adaptions, I craved more retellings of the story.
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I LOVE this post so much!! More to the story is def on my TBR now!
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