Manga Classics: Anne of Green Gables

 Manga Classics: Anne of Green Gables by Crystal S. Chan (adapted from the original by L.M. Montgomery), 319 pages.

This manga is a very faithful adaptation of beloved children's book Anne of Green Gables, the 1908 classic about an orphan who (after a miscommunication) goes to live with elderly brother and sister Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert on Prince Edward Island. Anne proceeds to get into all sorts of fairly hilarious trouble as she grows up in the wonderful little town. 

Anne of Green Gables has always been a book that is very rich with visual descriptors, and I feel like illustrations really help this story to breath. I feel that the manga style in particular really helps emphasize Anne's love for beauty and tendency towards the romantic. As I mentioned before, this is an extremely faithful adaptation. Much of the text is taken directly from the book, and I noticed to major changes to the story. My only criticism is that the middle of the book felt like it was rushing, touching on a whole lot of incidents very briefly in quick succession for time. While I understand that not everything can fit in the comic, I find myself wishing she had cut some incidences entirely rather than the perfunctory treatment they got. I would still call this a really stellar new treatment of a stellar book, and I'm really glad I happened upon it on the shelf. I would recommend it for young readers and fans of the original alike.

Fairest

 Fairest by Gail Carson Levine, 352 pages.

Aza has an exceptionally fine voice, even by the standards of the nation of Ayortha, who are known for their exceptionally fine voices. Unfortunately it's balanced by the fact that she is also exceptionally ugly, regularly attracting stares from the beauty-obsessed Ayorthans. But it seems her fortunes might just reverse when the innkeeper's daughter is invited to the palace to witness a royal wedding, and even more so when the new queen discovers Aza's unique talent for throwing her singing voice and demands she help her hide her own poor voice. Soon Aza is in over her head, and the world is not at all what she thought it was.

Fairest is a retelling of Snow White in much the same way that Ella Enchanted  (which this is technically a sequel to) is a retelling of Cinderella. Which is to say that it isn't afraid to make changes, and loves to dig into the ramifications of a lot of the baseline assumptions in the original fairy tales. Fairest in particular is concerned mostly the the classical equation of beauty to goodness. I really liked this book as a kid, and I kept thinking about it recently, so I decided to reread it. I think it definitely still holds up! Although it's lack of movie has rendered this book relatively obscure compared to Ella Enchanted I do think that it's just as good, and if you enjoyed that book I would definitely recommend this one.

Coraline

 Coraline by Neil Gaiman, 162 pages.

Coraline (though I suspect most people are familiar with the plot) is about a little girl who goes through a door in her house that should lead to a brick wall and instead leads to another world, where everything is exactly as she thinks it should be. This other world comes complete with an other mother and other father, who want Coraline to stay there forever with them and be loved. When Coraline discovers that this other world is more of a nightmare than a dream she must be very clever to escape back to her own world and save her parents.

I saw this movie many years ago and have never quite been able to remember if I had read the book before or not, but the beginning of October seemed like a great time to read it and see. It turns out I had not read it before and it is exactly as terrifying as people say. Neil Gaiman, as always, does good work, and I'm happy I finally got around to this one. 

Princess Academy

 Princess Academy by Shannon Hale, 314 pages.

Time for another childhood favorite that I got the sudden urge to reread. Miri lives on Mount Eskel, in a small village who's entire business is quarrying precious linder stone, just like they have been for generations. Miri is dealing with her usual problems: herding the goats, catching feelings for her childhood best friend, and trying to convince her father she's not too small and useless to work in the quarry. All of that changes when a big, important government man comes to the village and announces that the priests have ordained that the prince's bride will come from Mount Eskel, and that since there are no noble families there every girl aged 12-17 must spend a year at Princess Academy learning vital skills for being a princess, such as diplomacy, commerce, and dancing (also, how to read). At the end of the year the prince will come and carry off the girl he chooses to be his bride.

Something about this book has always felt extremely timeless to me. It feels like a classic children's book, even though it was only published in 2005. Miri's challenges are sometimes very big and sometimes very small, but they always feel important. The little song snippets at the beginning of each chapter are also a treat, and I was surprised at how many I remembered from years before. There is something very comforting in rereading this book, and it is definitely deserving of its Newbery Award.  I would definitely recommend it for anyone that hasn't read it yet, doubly so for children.