Little Witches

There are a ton of Little Women related books coming out this year, what with it being the 150th anniversary of publication and everything.  This year, I’ve been really into graphic novels, so when I saw a graphic novel adaptation of Little Women in which they were witches, I was sold. I read a digital ARC on my computer so I’m sure the graphics would be even better in person, but overall I was intrigued, and definitely believe there will be a second in the series.

Little Witches is on sale August 27th

I’m not going to rehash the plot of Little Women because if you don’t know it 150 years later, I can’t help you. Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy all play in this novel, though the focus is really on the Jo-Amy relationship and Beth’s illness.Yes, Beth still gets sick, even though she’s a witch,and her illness is actually one of the only major changes to the storyline besides you know..the magical powers. Laurie and his grandfather still move next door, though their own role in the whole magic-thing is interesting. There’s witchcraft afoot in Concord as the Civil War wages on, and the girls end up left alone to deal with it when Marmee goes off to do, you know, whatever Marmee does. The main addition to the original story is the magic. The settings and characters are still mostly the same, with some small changes to account for the magic.

I was surprised that this book was short, only 141 pages by my count, but when we got to the end, I realized there was definitely going to be another book. There has to be, right? There’s none of the romances (or “Romances” in the case of you-know-who) from the original book, and Amy didn’t go away for art (or magic) or whatever, so I’m definitely picturing this becoming a longer series. The author/illustrator is Leigh Dragoon, who also adapted that Vampire Academy novels into graphic novels. Her illustration style is really nice. I like less-glossy pages, and her exterior artwork is beautiful even if I hated Jo’s face.