Jane

Gr 10 Up—This present-day graphic novel adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre draws on the original story with some surprising twists. Orphan Jane has grown up in a New England town under the not-so-watchful eye of her relatives and has earned enough money for art school in New York City. Rochester, a mysterious businessman, hires Jane, now a college freshman, to take care of his precocious daughter. Jane becomes a surrogate mother to Adele and catches the eye of her absent father and Mason, Rochester's business partner and Adele's uncle. As the heroine unravels the mystery behind Rochester's wife's death, she falls in love with her boss and the glamorous life that he can afford her while neglecting her studies. She quickly gets embroiled in the dangerous dealings and power struggles of the two men. Screenwriter Brosh McKenna (Devil Wears Prada, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) injects the narrative with intrigue and romance, updating this story for modern audiences while maintaining elements from the source material (the protagonist's naiveté, Rochester's aloofness). The dynamic art changes from sketchy blues and whites (for scenes of the past) to bright yellows and reds (during Jane's first weeks in New York City) and dark blues and purples (menacing and brooding panels involving Rochester), establishing a gothic mood. The variation in panels becomes more comic book—like as the story progresses, especially in the final action-packed scenes.