Great or Nothing

Great or Nothing

2022 • 400 pages

I grew up loving Little Women and I've really enjoyed SOME retellings (eg [b:So Many Beginnings: A Little Women Remix 55780561 So Many Beginnings A Little Women Remix Bethany C. Morrow https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1609958105l/55780561.SY75.jpg 80152143] but not all of them (idk some contemporary one that made Jo a chef or something?) Anyway I'm putting this one in the LOVED category. Also my library's catalog as well as GoodReads listed this as by Joy McCullough (whose writing I love) but I didn't realize until I got to the end that it's actually a collaborative effort between 4 different writers, each doing one different March sister. (Beth = McCullough, Amy = Caroline Tung Richmond, Jo = Tess Sharpe, Meg = Jessica Spotswood) Really cool idea IMO–the book flowed together perfectly but each sister's voice was distinct and I loved these takes for all of them. Of COURSE Jo is my fav sister so I liked her parts the best (but really her as a queer WWII factory worker?? what's not to love) but Beth's verses were gorgeously devastating, and Amy and Meg had fresh takes too. I appreciated the way the book incorporated the March girls' strong sense of justice processing the Japanese internment camps too. Just–great.

September 1, 2022