Anne: An Adaptation of Anne of Green Gables (Sort Of): Guest review

This review was written by Grade 8 student Hasini K.

 

Written and illustrated by Kathleen Gros
Quill Tree Books (HarperCollins)
978-0-06-305766-1
304 pp.
Ages 8-13
October 2022

 

From the classic story of Anne of Green Gables comes this incredible adaptation. This is a story that takes place in our modern world with the inclusion of LGBTQ+ characters and plot lines that improve the story and allows it to reach a wider audience in the present era.

From Anne: An Adaptation of Anne of Green Gables (Sort Of) by Kathleen Gros

Anne Shirley is a teenager in the foster system, and she’s sick of it. She’s already moved from one house to another, from one foster placement to the next. Anne is tired of starting over every time she has to move. So, when Alexandra, Anne's social worker, tells the girl the exciting news that she's about to move to another place, Anne has mixed feelings. She’s so grateful that someone wants her and really hopes it will work out but a part of her wonders if she'll just end up back in the system afterwards.

From Anne: An Adaptation of Anne of Green Gables (Sort Of) by Kathleen Gros

However, things don’t start off as she hopes. When she first meets Matthew Cuthbert, her new foster guardian, he seems confused. When they arrive at the Avon-lea, the apartment building where the Cuthberts live, we learn that Matthew and his sister Marilla had been expecting a younger kid. Anne is devastated and is sure that she'll be sent back, especially when Marilla calls Alexandra. Explaining about a glitch in the system, Alexandra asks them to keep Anne until they can arrange something else. Anne is determined to try her best to make sure the Cuthberts keep her.

But, Anne quickly finds herself in trouble, from physically hurting a classmate to accidentally dyeing her hair green. The Cuthberts may be cool, but Anne worries that she may be too much for them. Still, she has other worries, including developing feelings for her closest friend Diana. Anne wants to ask Diana to the winter dance but what if Diana doesn't feel the same way? You'll need to read Kathleen Gros's book to find out if Anne finally ends up finding her forever home.

From Anne: An Adaptation of Anne of Green Gables (Sort Of) by Kathleen Gros

Anne: An Adaptation of Anne of Green Gables (Sort Of) is not the kind of book I usually read, but I absolutely enjoyed reading it and would recommend it to readers in Grade 6 and up. In the book, Anne struggles a lot with embracing her appearance, and I love how she gained confidence throughout the story. Kathleen Gros turned the story into something which everyone could relate to, from being the new kid to trying to find friends and fitting in. Although I haven't read the original Anne of Green Gables–I'm very tempted to do so after finishing this book–I think Kathleen Gros's graphic novel version will appeal more to this generation of readers, especially with its diversity and gorgeous artwork and very appealing colours. But most important is Kathleen Gros's message that families come in different forms, and they are all worthy of love, no matter how crazy they may be.

 

~ Written by Hasini K., Age 13

Anne: An Adaptation of Anne of Green Gables (Sort Of): Q & A with author-illustrator Kathleen Gros

Today is the release of Kathleen Gros's new graphic novel Anne: An Adaptation of Anne of Green Gables (Sort Of).  Yesterday I reviewed this new book and today I am pleased to present this interview with author-illustrator Kathleen Gros.

Anne: An Adaptation of Anne of Green Gables (Sort Of)

Written and illustrated by Kathleen Gros

Quill Tree Books (HarperCollins)

978-0-06-305766-1

304 pp.

Ages 8-13

Released October 25, 2022

Reviewed here 

 

Helen Kubiw:  As Anne: An Adaptation of Anne of Green Gables (Sort Of) is a modernized graphic novel of a Canadian classic, you would have had to make many decisions about which elements to keep and modernize (e. g., Gilbert pulling on Anne's braid) and which to eliminate? How did you make those decisions?

 

Kathleen Gros:  Choosing what to keep and what to cut is the hardest part of making a graphic novel adaptation. Comics is a very different medium than prose. One page of a prose novel can turn into upwards of 5 pages of comics, depending on how the cartoonist handles it. So, of course, when looking at adapting a novel there’s a lot that has to be cut out.
 
The way I approach making a modernized adaptation is to start by making a lot of lists. I make lists of what I think the overarching themes for the story are, the themes of the relationships between characters, as well as the key scenes that stick in my memory after I close the book. Having a strong idea of what I feel the themes of the original narrative are helps guide me as I muddle my way through deciding which scenes to keep and transform, and which scenes to omit.
 
One of the big themes in the original work is the idea of a somewhat insular community. In the novel, that’s the rural town of Avonlea. I wanted to reflect on what community means to me in the 21st century. I’ve lived all of my adult life in apartments, which are their own unique kind of community, so it felt natural to turn the town of Avonlea into an apartment building! While some readers might wonder about this decision, I tried to give a few nods to L. M. Montgomery by using imagery from my own childhood in Toronto to inspire the setting of Anne. The original book is set in Prince Edward Island, but Montgomery actually spent a significant amount of her life in Ontario and Toronto!
 
One of my favourite parts of the original novel is when Anne starts a story club with her peers. I feel like this part of her story doesn’t get enough love! In my adaptation, I expanded this part of the narrative and gave it a bit of an update. My love of comics and creative writing was, in part, fostered by a teacher I had in high school who ran our school’s zine club (thank you Ms. Kim). Around the time that the original novel was written, people were really into the art of collage. Montgomery, herself, even kept collaged scrap books! Having Anne join a zine club felt like a way to give a wink to that history, while also incorporating my own connection to the original work. Anne’s storyteller side and creativity was something that really resonated with me as a kid.


 

HK:  Though you've included all the key characters from the original Anne of Green Gables–Anne, Diana, Marilla, Matthew, Gilbert, Josie, Ruby, Mrs. Lynde–they are similar and yet different. For example, though Marilla was initially reluctant to take on Anne, unlike Matthew, she actually comes around far more quickly to supporting the girl in your book than originally. Why did you do this?

 

Kathleen Gros:  This kind of comes down to the economy of storytelling necessary for a graphic novel. The original book spans years of Anne’s life, while my adaptation is translated into just a few months. My favourite parts of Marilla and Anne’s relationship come once Marilla has softened a bit. So I chose to kind of expedite the whole process in this new version.


 

HK:  Some fans of the original story may not appreciate a retelling, sort of, in a contemporary setting and with similarly-named characters with different characterizations. How would you address their need to leave the original unaltered?

 

Kathleen Gros:  I don’t think I’m ever going to manage to persuade a fan like that! And that’s okay. My feelings about adaptations is that they’re a way to continue a conversation about a work. To me, an adaptation is a way to examine the work, the cultural values around the work, the themes of the work, and find ways to respond to and reflect on those things. If that’s not how someone enjoys engaging with media, that’s okay. The original work still exists, and they can reread it forever. But I would say: I think you’ll have fun with my adaptation if you decide to give it a try.


 

HK:  What was the toughest decision you had to make about your adaptation?

 

Kathleen Gros:  The toughest decisions were all the stuff I had to cut out! I wish I had about 100 more pages to be able to fit in a chapter about Marilla’s amethyst brooch and the Raspberry Cordial Incident—but there just wasn’t space. I hope readers will forgive me for those omissions and enjoy the other elements I expanded on.

 

HK:  You've changed a key relationship from friendship to a romantic one. Was this a key premise upon which you based your adaptation or is it something that evolved as you wrote the story?

 

Kathleen Gros:  A big commonality shared by many of my friends who are queer women is that when they first read about Anne and Diana’s friendship, they felt their childhood crushes reflected back at them. Rereading the book as an adult, it’s so easy to see that connection. Anne and Diana profess their love for each other over and over again. They exchange locks of their hair. Anne is inconsolable when she accidentally imagines Diana marrying a man. I really wanted to honour the experiences of my friends with this adaptation. I think a couple of them would have been livid if I hadn’t approached the work through a queer lens. I’m joking, but I do want to acknowledge that it’s a huge privilege to get to queer classic works the way I have been able to. In classic literature, queer people mostly exist in subtext. There are people today (in both Canada and the US) who wish that they wouldn’t enter the text at all. It’s a very special thing to be entrusted with bringing that queerness into the actual text.

 

HK:  Anne: An Adaptation of Anne of Green Gables (Sort Of) is your second retelling, having previously written Jo: An Adaptation of Little Women (Sort Of). Do you have any plans for reimagining other classic tales as contemporary graphic novels? (Please, please, please do Pride & Prejudice!)

 

Kathleen Gros:  Ha ha I’m open to doing another contemporary retelling! Little Women and Anne of Green Gables are two books I absolutely adored growing up—and I want to make sure that if I do another retelling that it’s coming from a similar place of admiration and celebration. It would be nice to round out the (Sort Of) adaptations with a third book, don’t you think? Three books is always a satisfying number.
 

• • • • • • •
 
Many thanks to Kathleen Gros
for answering my probing questions
 
and to Shayla Leung, Publicist
at HarperCollins Canada, for facilitating this interview.

• • • • • • •

Anne: An Adaptation of Anne of Green Gables (Sort Of)

Written and illustrated by Kathleen Gros

Quill Tree Books (HarperCollins)

978-0-06-305766-1

304 pp.

Ages 8-13

October 2022

 

This is not L. M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables. Sure there is an Anne, a Marilla, a Matthew, Diana and Gilbert. But this is a new Anne, a contemporary one, and one with her own story. And, it's a story that might resonate a little more with young readers today.

From Anne: An Adaptation of Anne of Green Gables (Sort Of) by Kathleen Gros

When Matthew Cuthbert comes by the case worker's office to pick up their foster child, he's surprised to meet twelve-year-old Anne Shirley, a child much older than the one he and his sister Marilla had intended to foster. Although Anne, a consummate writer and doodler, sees herself as "in between being an outsider and belonging" (pg. 2), she's delighted to go to the Avon-Lea, the apartment building where Matthew is a handyman. Marilla, an accountant, may want child services to look into the placement–a server crash may have caused the mismatch–and appear cool towards Anne but she generously buys her a sketchbook and takes her shopping for clothes.

Matthew and Marilla introduce her to a number of the residents of the Avon-Lea, including Mr. Barry, Marilla's boss, who lives with his wife and daughters Diana and Minnie in the penthouse, and Rachel Lynde, a woman who comments on Anne's red hair and gets an earful from the girl. Diana and Anne become fast friends, hanging out in the nearby ravine, before the beginning of their Grade 7 year at Carmody Middle School.

From Anne: An Adaptation of Anne of Green Gables (Sort Of) by Kathleen Gros

At school, she meets Ruby and Josie but also Gilbert who teases her relentlessly, even getting her in trouble. It's only when she makes it clear to him that as a foster kid being labelled as a troublemaker could get her moved, that he takes responsibility. Still school is also where she joins the Carmody Zine Club, an extracurricular that gives her an venue for her creativity.

From Anne: An Adaptation of Anne of Green Gables (Sort Of) by Kathleen Gros

Of course, this is an adaptation of Anne of Green Gables so we know that there have to be a number of unfortunate events, though these definitely have a contemporary feel. There is the hair-dying incident, a visit to a fancy restaurant with Diana's Great Aunt Josephine, a misunderstanding about being asked to the dance, and a dare. And there's an unexpected and heartwarming crush between two friends.

Maybe life is just a cycle of forgiving and accepting forgiveness–if we let ourselves listen and change. (pg. 262)

It's tough to write an adaptation that is fresh and unparalleled by staying somewhat true to the original but Kathleen Gros has done it. Just as she did with Jo: An Adaptation of Little Women (Sort Of) (2020), Kathleen Gros has updated the story of Anne Shirley, keeping the essence of the characters and their relationships and key events, but taking them all into a contemporary setting which might be more familiar to young people. As beloved as Anne of Green Gables is globally, most young readers today would not be familiar with the clothes, classroom or domestic activities of that book. However, they will recognize classroom practices of whiteboards and computers, living in apartment buildings, and introducing themselves with their pronouns. Moreover, by enveloping that modern story in a graphic novel format, Kathleen Gros has introduced a new generation of readers to Anne, including those who would never have picked up the classic story of the red-haired orphan who goes to live at Green Gables. Today's young readers will appreciate a story of getting in trouble at school when being teased or bullied, hiding their feelings, and trying to fit in. But beyond that, Kathleen Gros gives us wisdom and reassurance that there are people that will steer them right and support them in their struggles. 

Fans of Anne of Green Gables will love this new story and new format while revisiting a favourite character and recalling the events that made Anne so memorable. But those unfamiliar with the classic story will still love meeting Anne and her new family and friends and cheer her on as she makes a new life, perhaps with a few missteps along the way. It's Anne 2.0 in all her colours.

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Check back tomorrow, the official release date for Anne: An Adaptation of Anne of Green Gables (Sort Of), for my interview with author-illustrator Kathleen Gros.

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