Great or Nothing by Joy McCullough and others - OPTIONAL

Great or Nothing by Joy McCullough, Caroline Tung Richmond, Tess Sharpe, and Jessica Spotswood, 400 pages. Delacorte Press (Random House), 2022. $19.

Language: R (40 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG; Violence: PG

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

After Beth’s death and a huge fight, Meg is left alone at home with Marmee to tend to victory gardens and her teaching job. Jo went to work in a factory, and Amy found a way to become a Red Cross volunteer in England. Each sister struggles to fill the holes their sisters once occupied while helping serve their country during WWII—but can rifts be mended while there is so much distance between them?

The authors have reimagined Little Women in the 1940s, and they do a fair job of introducing new ideas while following a lot of the same plot points in the second half of the March sisters’ stories. All of the sisters’ points of view are given, and I loved the poems between chapters. For new and old fans, this is a good read.

The majority of characters are White (American and English), though there are a couple of Black and Asian characters mentioned. The mature content rating is for alcohol use, mentions of tobacco, kissing, and mild innuendo. The violence rating is for death, assault, and mentions of guns, bombs, and war.

Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen