Hi everybody! My name is Nicole Marconi, and I’m the new head of the Access Services department at the Hoboken Library. I previously worked here as a Library Assistant in the Youth Services department and now I’m back after working at the Newark Public Library for a while as their Head of Youth Services.
While I was at the Newark Public Library, I ended up reading a lot of Young Adult fiction and nonfiction. I realized that I’ve been missing out on a lot of amazing literature and wanted to do a deep dive into YA. One of the best books that I came across was a book called So Many Beginnings: A Little Women Remix. This book was written by Bethany C. Morrow, a prominent author already in her own right. I saw an article about the book and was immediately intrigued. Books that reimagine or reinvent stories that are very well known can be tricky, but this book exceeded any and all expectations for me.
Popular culture has made us very familiar with the March sisters: Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy. The recent movie made by Greta Gerwig reintroduced the story for a new generation that felt refreshing but also stayed close to the source material. With So Many Beginnings, Bethany C. Morrow gives us a fresh perspective on a story that we already know. The original Little Women treats the Civil War as a side character in the main story. In So Many Beginnings, Morrow brings the Civil War and its issues of race and division right up front. The four March sisters know what it’s like first hand to question everything about their own existence, so feeling uneasy in their newfound freedom makes sense. I loved the way that Morrow made the characters so real and relatable. This book is definitely worth a read and a reread for anyone who is a fan of Little Women but also wants to hear another perspective of this beloved story.
So Many Beginnings: A Little Women Remix is available in print from BCCLS Libraries.
Written by:
Nicole Marconi
Access Services Manager
Hoboken Public Library Blog 