Review:: A Wrinkle in Time: The Graphic Novel, adapted by Hope Larson

Title: A Wrinkle in Time: The Graphic Novel

Author: Madeleine L'Engle

Adapted by: Hope Larson

Format: Hardcover

Rating: ★★★★☆

Unfortunately, most of the stars here are coming from the source text, which as I've said before, is a Very Important Book for me. I found the adaptation highly faithful in a lot of ways, but not adding much. The art was fine, but underwhelming, and I don't know. It just didn't feel like the graphic novel version served any purpose. That's not to say you shouldn't read it.

I feel like graphic novel adaptations of books can be great to help turn kids from cautious readers into avid readers, especially if they're having trouble moving from picture books into text-heavy books. But with the language in A Wrinkle in Time, I'm not really positive that it helped bridge any gaps. The art isn't exactly what most kids would be looking for, picking up a graphic novel either.

I don't deal with a lot of kids, but this was in the children's section of Oakland Public Library, so I assume that's the demographic at least the librarians felt it was for. But the art was all blue-tones (which makes describing the red-eyed man difficult...) and seemed simultaneously too cartoony and not enough.

The art style might have worked better for an original work, where there isn't already expectation built up in the reader's mind and where it might fit with the themes a bit better. I understand that the author's idea of what the characters look like isn't going to mesh up with how I imagine them (in this case, Charles Wallace and Calvin just no) but for some reason the whole feel felt off.

But for all of that, the adaptation itself was very faithful. The story is, as far as I remember, pretty much what you get in the graphic novel. On one hand, this is a selling point. On the other, why shouldn't I just read the book?

I'm of two minds about this. I definitely did enjoy it. But I really felt like it could have been more.