Vance Boelter, suspect in shooting of Minnesota lawmakers, taken into custody in Sibley County

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

These authors have pulled their favorite plots from the classics section and remade them with diverse and inventive new voices.

1) "Ana of California" by Andi Teran, based on "Anne of Green Gables" by Lucy Maud Montgomery

In the beloved "Green Gables," an orphan named Anne is sent to live on a farm on Prince Edward Island — but she's not what her new family is expecting. Swap the Canadian province for Northern California and you've got Teran's new take on the classic.

Fifteen-year-old Ana leaves foster homes and East Los Angeles behind for a farm trainee program in this modern retelling. Just when she starts to feel comfortable, trouble in town threatens her newfound sense of home.

2) "Lost Boi" by Sassafras Lowrey, based on "Peter Pan" by J.M. Barrie

J.M. Barrie's children's tale gets a dark and wondrous makeover in "Lost Boi," a queer punk reimagining of "Peter Pan." Lowrey's bois are abandoned, orphaned and rejected; they make their home in a discarded squat they've dubbed Neverland.

Wendy's there too, as Mommy Wendi, and old enemies remain: The bois refuse to join Hook and his leather pirates.

3) "Re Jane" by Patricia Park, based on "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte

Forget the stark and sweeping landscapes of Bronte's "Jane Eyre." Swap in the refurbished warehouses and brownstones of modern Brooklyn that come alive in Patricia Park's "Re Jane." Jane Re is a young Korean-American girl who takes an au pair job for a wealthy, progressive couple.

The classic plot takes off from there, but Park injects a fresh perspective and new twists to keep even the most diehard Bronte fan guessing.

. Read "Re Jane" along with us and send us your questions — we'll ask them in the studio.

4) "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" by David Wroblewski, based on "Hamlet" by William Shakespeare

It's Shakespeare — just in Wisconsin, with dogs. Wroblewski transplants "Hamlet" to the modern American countryside.

In the titular role is Edgar, a young mute boy who comes from a long line of dog breeders. When his father is killed, Edgar flees into the surrounding wilderness, hoping to return with proof of his uncle's guilt.

Wroblewski has a fan in Oprah: She picked "Edgar Sawtelle" for her 

5) "Railsea" by China Mieville, based on "Moby-Dick" by Herman Melville

Mieville (not to be confused with Melville, from whom he takes his inspiration) moves the action onto rails. Railsea is a post-apocalyptic world of islands connected by trains and terrorized not by vengeful whales but by similarly pale, hulking creatures: enormous mole rats.

Mieville draws on the stories of Robert Louis Stevenson as well, adding plenty of adventure to his epic retelling.

Tracy Mumford

Author

Everything from "Moby-Dick" to the Bronte sisters gets reimagined in these modern retellings.

Courtesy of publishers

The great white whale becomes the great white mole

Five wildly inventive new takes on classic literature

Go Deeper.

Like this?