The ANNEthology

Well, this was a fun read! This Young Adult anthology collects short stories by authors who wrote Anne from "Anne of Green Gables" in their own way: the characters, setting, and adventures from the original series are all there, but presented in new and imaginative ways. There’s creepy dark cannibal Anne, modern junior high teenager Anne, gender swapped Anne, dystopian Anne, haunted house Anne, and AI robot Anne, to name a few. One of my favourites was poetic Anne: a poem set in a northern mining community in the 1980s.

Some stories are sweet and some are shocking, some are serious and some are sad, but all are successful in that they contain the original spirit of the character with additional clever twists. Most authors wrote the voice exactly right, so when the twists arrived it was at times jarring or puzzling, but in such a fun way! I think the authors assume familiarity and it does help to know the original characters, setting, and stories so that the twists attain maximum impact, otherwise readers may be confused or feel like something is missing or disjointed. But I was a fan as a child, so loved both the nostalgic and interpretive elements.

As usual with short story collections, I liked some more than others, but generally thought the writing was excellent. The various writing styles all maintained the mood of the original source and added modern touches while remaining accessible for the target age group. Overall, I think this is an excellent Annethology and would recommend it for adventurous Anne fans of all ages!

Thank you to Netgalley and Acorn Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved and remember Anne of Green Gables growing up so it was great to see the different interpretations of her by these amazing authors.