Ivy Noelle Weir

Wish this had put more of its own spin on the beloved classic and dug deeper emotionally.

While I would probably be annoyed with a TV or movie adaptation of Anne of Green Gables that didn’t include the hallmark moments of the original, I don’t feel like a re-telling needs to be as faithful as an adaptation, I would have happily thrown away some of these scenes (like the cordial incident that in this new iteration wasn’t particularly believable) in exchange for scenes that develop the show more characters a little more, give more insight into Marilla’s sometimes harsh personality and Anne’s occasionally bratty behavior and show more of the nuances of who they are, for instance in the original, there’s solid reasoning behind why Marilla wanted a boy to work their farm, here however, I wasn’t clear on why she’d have apprehension over fostering a girl rather than a boy.

With the exception of a couple changes this pretty much follows Anne of Green Gables beat for beat which made for a book that at times felt as though little creativity had been put into it and to me the only point of a re-telling is to take the story and characters to different places.

Technically this took Anne from 1800’s PEI to modern day Philly, but almost no time is spent on the setting, in giving you a sense of this Anne’s community. Same goes for Anne’s race and her culture, obviously no book and no character should entirely be about the color of someone’s skin because every human being is more than that, but if you’re recasting Anne of Green Gables with a present-day black girl then shouldn’t the story take some time to acknowledge that she is a black girl, to show that her life experiences likely differed greatly from the original Anne’s, to address that she’s a unique combination of a black girl with red hair, etc.? It seemed like a squandered opportunity to center this on a black girl in West Philly yet not particularly explore those new aspects of this otherwise extremely familiar story. show less

Mary Lennox lives an isolated life in Silicon Valley with workaholic parents; when they die in an accident, Mary is sent to live in New York with her Uncle Archie, who she has never met. And she continues not to meet him: instead, household staff and neighbors take care of her. Mary visits Central Park and museums, gets to know the bodega (and Ben and the bodega cat Robin), and makes friends with neighbor Dixon. When Mary discovers the existence of Uncle Archie's dead husband's rooftop show more garden, she searches for the key and enlists Dixon to help her bring it back to life. She also discovers her cousin Colin, who has a panic disorder and rarely goes out. Through Mary and Dixon's friendship, Colin becomes more confident, and wants to help with the garden. Mary (presumably) starts a social media account (The_Secret_Garden) to document their progress, and though they worry about Archie's reaction when he discovers what they've done, he surprises them.

A retelling both faithful and fresh.

Quotes

"I can't make myself feel something just because I'm supposed to." (Mary to Mrs. Medlock, 9)

"I want them to see how beautiful something can be if you care for it." (Mary, 200)

"People grieve in different ways....where we failed wasn't in how we processed our grief, but how we maybe weren't there for one another when we needed it." (Uncle Archie to Colin, 219)

If there's one thing I've learned, it's that people are surprisingly resilient. When it seems like everything is dead, buried, and cold things can still find a way to come to life. When the rain comes, it might set us back a bit, but ultimately, it helps us be stronger. In that way, life is like a garden. Things change with the seasons, for better and worse, but in the end, we can still grow. (246) show less

Canadians are already mad at the U.S. because of Trump wanting to annex them, so I hope they don't find out that three years ago we quietly stole Anne Shirley from Prince Edward Island and moved her to Philadelphia.

This retelling also makes her BIPOC and gives her an interest in STEM and the school robotics club as it tweaks and updates the original story in numerous ways. It does manage to stay truer to the characters' personalities than the other modern updating I read recently, Anne: An show more Adaptation of Anne of Green Gables (Sort Of), which softened everyone, but Matthew Cuthbert is still too outgoing for my tastes in this version.

The art is nice and the story holds to the spirit of the original novel while making for a good middle-school graphic novel all on its own, even for people who might not be familiar with the original book.

My favorite graphic novel adaptation of Anne Shirley's life though still remains Manga Classics: Anne of Green Gables by Crystal Chan and Kuma Chan. show less

Sometimes you root for the ghost.

(Full disclosure: I received a free e-ARC for review through NetGalley.)

Celeste Walden has fallen on hard times. She's struggled with anxiety and depression for most of her life, and a recent breakdown cost Cel her dream job as a librarian. So when she lands a position as live-in, night shift archivist at the mysterious Logan Museum, it seems too good to be true. And it is: before long, Cel begins to lose time and wake up in strange places. She pulls away show more from her long-time boyfriend, Kyle, and her already-strained relationship with her mother continues to fray. She dreams of a sad, hurt girl who roams the museum's grounds.

Cel fears she's losing her mind again - that is, until she sees the face of the sad girl, staring back at her from one of the photographs in the museum's collections. Celine is real, and her ghost is stuck in the museum, calling out to Cel for help. But why? And can Cel convince her co-workers, librarian Holly and curator Abayomi "Aba" Abiola, that Celine is real?

There's so much to love here. Archival Quality is a great mashup of supernatural ghost story, historical fiction, and semi-autobiographical memoir. There's intrigue, villainy, self-introspection, greed, and a haunting set in a spooky museum that used to be a terrifying asylum. As a former psych student who also has anxiety and depression, I found the mental health aspect both engaging and compassionately done. The history of psychiatry - steeped in racism, misogyny, and ableism - is equally parts fascinating and horrifying, and makes compelling fodder for a ghost story. The setting of a museum/library is pretty great too, and is sure to tickle the fancy of all the bookworms out there. (C'mon, who doesn't dream of roaming a library after dark?)

http://www.easyvegan.info/img/archival-quality-01.jpg

Perhaps my favorite part, though, is the cast, which is fun and interesting and diverse as heck - but in a way that feels natural and organic. I fell in love with Holly - fabulous wardrobe and bitchin' purple-and-blue hair - from panel one, and her girlfriend Gina has an ace up her sleeve too. Aba is an enigmatic and ultimately sympathetic character. The only person I didn't much care for is Kyle (good riddance!), who clearly cares for Cel but comes off as a bit of a nag (for lack of a better word).

Cel, though: Cel is awesome. I see a bit of myself in her struggle, and found hope in her ending. She's just one cool broad.

Read it if you like: books and libraries; ghosts; revenge; research; museums of oddities; nefarious white guys getting their due.

http://www.easyvegan.info/2018/03/23/archival-quality-by-ivy-noelle-weir-and-ste... show less