I really enjoyed this adaptation of Little Women. It seamlessly models the use of pronouns, self-discovery, coming out and family support. Jo: A Graphic Novel by Kathleen Gros was not exactly what I thought it was going to be, but at the same time, it was exactly what I thought it would be.

While it has an LGBT+ theme, writing is the main theme. Verdict: Little Women for modern times is a hit! It is accurately named Jo since it follows her life and focuses on her personal growth, blog post and coming out. This format is successful and makes for a quick, easy read. Keep your eyes out for Easter eggs, which are Meg’s high school named after Little Women’s original publisher, and the Middle School is named after the editor who helped shape the book. The bright digital illustrations include people of color and follow the story line. There are some changes that make the graphic novel modern, such as Beth has cancer, not scarlet fever, honoring of people’s pronouns, and the reason why Jo does not want to marry Laurie. Jo tells the story alternately though her blog posts and daily experiences. Jo starts eighth grade, joins her school newspaper, and learns about herself.

This modern-day adaptation of Little Women is a middle grade graphic novelization. What would happen if Little Women took place now instead of in the 1860s? You do not have to guess, just read Jo: An Adaptation of Little Women (Sort Of). Jo: An Adaptation of Little Women (Sort Of). Agent: Elizabeth Bennett, Transatlantic Agency. Friendly illustrations have an Archie-and-Veronica quality that, alongside a lack of chicken pox vaccines and a presence of introductions using pronouns, makes for a hazy temporal setting, but it’s impossible not to root for Jo and family, and to celebrate their victories, however easily won. Jo March has always loved making up stories for her sisters, Meg, Beth, and Amy. I was scared my parents would be disappointed,” but Gros doesn’t really hint at this fear beyond a bit of blushing. Jo declares in her article, “What scared me most about coming out was how people would react. Beth’s recovery from leukemia and Jo’s coming out-first to instantly accepting Marmee, next via a school newspaper essay-add a contemporary optimism not present in the more bittersweet original, in which familial closeness was an antidote to a harsher reality. Jo: An Adaptation of Little Women (Sort of). In Gros’s update, the heroine is a white 13-year-old blogger who faces mild challenges with the support of her sisters and Marmee chats via video with their deployed father and harbors a crush on classmate Freddie, a bespectacled Black girl. A fun story for middle grade readers who enjoy coming-of-age graphic novels and modern adaptations of classics. While repackaging Jo’s story for a contemporary readership, this gentle, warm graphic novel adaptation will remind readers why the March family is long beloved.

Jo kathleen gros