Everything ultimately works out, however, with Jo receiving nothing but love and acceptance. Making Jo gay is not uncommon in modernizations, but Jo takes some more time to explore Jo’s feelings–her confusion, her worries about telling her family, her thoughts about telling people beyond the ones she lives with. The one notable aspect of the story may be that if emphasizes Jo’s sexual identity more than some of the other modernizations. On the other hand, however, there’s also not much striking about the book in general.

And some of the book feels just a little too easy, as if the author did not want to upset any young readers (so Beth is already cancer-free in this version, and Jo, when coming out, receives a page of affirmations and then goes about life as usual). Yes, some of the scenarios are rather rushed (such as Laurie getting over Jo’s rejection in about two pages). Writing a review about Jo feels rather difficult because nothing is strikingly wrong with it. Jo will appeal to readers who enjoy graphic novels about the middle school experience, but it seems unlikely to make a real mark. How many times can one update Jo to a writer to the school newspaper with a sister who likes art, a sister who likes boys and makeup, and a sister with cancer? It has been done several times now and the stakes are getting higher to provide an original take. However, because it has arrived after a number of similar retellings, it simply does not feel new, fresh, or even that interesting. Jo is a perfectly serviceable adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. What does it take to figure out who you are? Jo March is about to find out. Feelings she’s never shared with anyone before. Feelings that Jo doesn’t have for him…or for any boy.

Jo and her sisters-Meg, Beth, and Amy-are getting used to a new normal at home, with their dad deployed overseas and their mom, a nurse, working overtime.Īnd while it helps to hang out with Laurie, the boy who just moved next door, things get complicated when he tells Jo he has feelings for her. But even with her new friend Freddie cheering her on, becoming a hard-hitting journalist is a lot harder than Jo imagined. With the start of eighth grade, Jo March decides it’s time to get serious about her writing and joins the school newspaper. A must-read for fans of Raina Telgemeier. A modern-day graphic novel adaptation of Little Women that explores identity, friendships, and new experiences through the eyes of thirteen-year-old Jo March.

Jo by Kathleen Gros