Recent Reads - Snow White: A Graphic Novel

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Snow White: A Graphic Novel by Matt Phelan - I'm not usually one to choose graphic novels, but this caught my eye when I was looking for something to read that had an apple theme for the Online Book Club. I had resorted to search terms of novels with apples on the cover, and this was one of them. The cover appealed to me with its bold colors and art deco style lettering, and that is clearly an apple.

Author and illustrator Matt Phelan brings his creativity to the well-known fairy tale of Snow White. He tells the tale mostly in pictures, with a minimum of dialogue. The drawings are grayscale with just hints of color here and there, and yet they have a watercolor feel. 

In this retelling, the story is set in 1920s New York City. Samantha (nicknamed Snow) loses her mother when she's young, and her banker father eventually marries a Ziegfeld Follies star who convinces him to send Snow away to school. Snow returns after her father dies - and perhaps the Queen of the Follies had something to do with that? - and is soon driven from her home by her stepmother. There's an attempt on Snow's life, but seven young street urchins rescue her. They strike up a friendship but the stepmother finds out Snow is still alive and takes matters into her own hands. 

The unique take on the setting and characters is remarkably true to the original story, and there is a little magic thrown in as well. And yes, there is definitely a fairy tale happy ending!

This review will also appear on HS Coffee Break as part of the Online Book Club for September 2021.

The curtain rises on New York City. The dazzling lights cast shadows that grow ever darker as the glitzy prosperity of the Roaring Twenties screeches to a halt. Enter a cast of familiar characters: a young girl, Samantha White, returning after being sent away by her cruel stepmother, the Queen of the Follies, years earlier; her father, the King of Wall Street, who survives the stock market crash only to suffer a strange and sudden death; seven street urchins, brave protectors for a girl as pure as snow; and a mysterious stock ticker that holds the stepmother in its thrall, churning out ticker tape imprinted with the wicked words: "Another . . . More Beautiful . . . KILL."

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