Anne of West Philly A Modern Graphic Retelling of Anne of Green Gables

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc and finished copy from the publisher for a tour. Thanks! All opinions are my own. Book: Anne of West Philly Author: Ivy Noelle Weir & Myisha Haynes (illustrator) Book Series: Standalone for now Rating: 5/5 Diversity: Black foster care MC, Black characters, Hispanic characters, siblings living together Recommended For...: middle grade readers, graphic novel, retelling, Anne of Green Gables retelling Publication Date: March 1, 2022 Genre: MG Graphic Novel Retelling Age Relevance: 10+ (sexism, foster care trauma, alcohol briefly mentioned, slight bullying, medical emergency) Explanation of Above: Sexism and foster care trauma is discussed and shown slightly in the book. There is a very small brief mention of alcohol, but nothing was drunk in the book. There is some slight bullying that only lasts a few scenes. There is a medical emergency and hospital stay shown. Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers Pages: 245 Synopsis: When Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert decide to foster a teenage girl for the first time, their lives are changed forever. Their redheaded foster daughter, Anne Shirley, is in search of an exciting life and has decided that West Philly is where she's going to find it. Armed with a big personality and unstoppable creativity, Anne takes her new home by storm as she joins the robotics club, makes new friends in Diana and Gilbert, experiences first love, and turns the ordinary into the extraordinary. But as Anne starts to get comfortable, she discovers one thing she wasn't looking for: a family. Review: I absolutely fell in love with this Anne of Green Gables retelling. Anne was one of my first book series that I fell in love with as a child and that I identified with greatly. She was feisty and spirited and didn’t take anything from anyone. And I feel like that spirit translates well to modern day retellings. I absolutely loved this iteration of Anne and she was everything I always remembered and loved most about Anne. The story of foster care kids is something that’s not really changed since L.M. Montgomery wrote Anne and making a retelling of Anne’s story can only help current foster care kids who are going through the system now. I also loved all of the updates to the story, including STEM! The character development of Anne was so well done, I love the illustrations and feel like they conveyed the heart of the story well. The world building was artistically illustrated and detailed. The whole book is a masterpiece that I would love to see in libraries and freely available to foster care kids. The only issue I had with the book is that it did feel a little disjointed when we skipped times, but it was otherwise well done and I can’t wait to read another iteration of Anne of West Philly. Verdict: I highly recommend this one!

This was such a sweet middle grade graphic novel! I’ve not read Anne of Green Gables, so I can speak to how faithful it is to the source material, but I think they captured the spirit of Anne Shirley very well. I also loved the art, it was colorful and vibrant and drew you into the story.