If you’re ever in the mood for a classic but aren’t in the mindset to translate the sometimes archaic eighteenth/nineteenth century language and lengthy descriptors, or just plain want classic characters that look like you and apply to your experiences, try Feiwel & Friends’ latest line, Classics Remixed.

I briefly highlighted the premiere book in the series, So Many Beginnings which takes Little Women but makes it the story of the African-American March family and their experiences of growing up, and finding love and career in the Roanoke Free Men’s Colony during the Civil War.

Since then they’ve dove into Romeo & Juliet, The Great Gatsby and many more.

Here are the latest I got from my library (and the only, I’d suggest more but I’m limited to just three suggestions per month and I have a lot of others on my TBR list).

Anyway, Clash of Steel takes the Treasure Island tale but instead of Jim Hawkins in 18th century England, we have Xiang in 18th century China/Vietnam seas, a sheltered merchant’s daughter who desperately wants to make her mother proud and follow her footsteps in acting as the head merchant of the salt trade instead of being married off to some guy.

However, those prospects go belly-up when she meets intrepid adventurer and pirate, Ahn who steals her necklace, the only thing she has left of her father. Turns out, he had been one of the notorious pirate in the Dragon Fleet headed by legendary, infamous Zhang Yi Sao (romanized name of Ching Shin). Sure, that the ey of winning her mother’s acceptance and respect, Xiang heads out to find treasure and inevitable finds out more about herself, her capabilities and her history.

Not only do I love the historical-fantasy setting based on real historical characters, but I enjoyed how Lee deepened the themes of manhood, or in this case, womenhood as Xiang is presented with different mentor figures and ideals of what it means to be a woman, and what it means to create a legacy and starts to forge her own identity as the secrets of her parents’ start to unravel into heartbreaking betrayal and chaos.

Next is Into the Bright Open where headstrong yet sickly Mary Lennox is sent to the care of her Uncle Craven in the Georgian Bay wilderness of Canada. Much like the book, the adults in this story are either absent or cruel with the exception of housekeeper, Flora who not only teaches Mary that there is more to her coddified existance in the manors of the rich but introduces her to her Metis community. Up to this point, Mary has seen the Metis as invisible servants, not fit to be talked to as equals but with no adults around her, she is now allowed to make up her own mind. There on, she begins to play, work at the land and create her own garden, revelling in the freedom and capability of doing stuff even though it’s headstrong and unladylike.

Unfortunately, her cousin, Olive is not given the same chance as her mysterious afflictions (what we’d call anxiety and panic attacks today) have made her an embarassment to the cruel Rebecca Craven who keeps her locked up in the attic.

Yep, the whole locked up relative reminded me more of Jane Eyre (which they haven’t gotten to yet) than Secret Garden and turns this remix into a hodge-podge than a straight adaptation. It feels like Dimaline’s choice to age-up the characters made her hedge Mary’s characterization as someone who is simply shy and ignorant rather than an all-out brat like in the original which makes Mary feel less like Mary. And the addition of the Gothic elements make this feel like a different story compared to the whimiscal imagination Mary Lennox had in the original. I get it is a YA retelling so they’d like to hit it harder but I feel like it would have been more true if it was dark in a magical realism sense with atmosphere and imagination, not gothic.

Finally, My Dear Henry takes on Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde with 17 year old Gabriel Utterson has returned to London in search for his dear friend, Henry after the latter was expelled from medical school. Henry seems to be missing in the bustle of London. There is only one boy who seems to know of Henry’s wherabouts. The rough charismatic enigma, Hyde who reminds Gabriel of Henry yet sparks his jealousy as he dismisses Garbiel’s relationship with Henry. This was by far the strongest entry in the series as Bayron twists the readers around her finger with her slowly inching suspense, combining menacing horror with the real life painful longing and shame of being black and gay in the Victorian era, and their difficulties to admit their feelings and find acceptance together. The romance and the suspense are slow burns but worth it.

So I highly recommend the series if you’re looking for some new takes on classics to see why they resonate so strongly today.

On the other side of the YA spectrum is this whimsically, funny magical realist graphic novels of arden High which transplates Shakespeare to the modern day.

Molly Horton Booth and Stephanie Kate Strohm’s bios of being Shakespeare nerds shine through the prose as they easily weave the love triangle of Orsino, Viola, and Olivia where Viola likes Orsino, but Orsino likes Olivia who likes Viola. And this is all in the first week of Viola’s time in Arden High. The first time without her beloved twin brother.

It’s such fun from the beginning from Titannia, fairy queen and drama club co-president being Viola’s self involved guide. I mean her spats with Oberon causes weather disasters in the school, it’s hialrious. The confusion of communications are well-done and not as annoying as it would have been in some prose novel because Viola’s indecision and loss of self is the driving force.

Sebastian choosing not to go to Arden High with her and not telling her at the last minute drives a deep rift between them, she feels he’s leaving her behind or worst, he doesn’t quite like her new self as she explores her new style and gender identity now that she doesn’t have to conform to their private school’s uniform.

Since she’s still figuiring herself out, she tries her best to stay out of drama though she ends up embroliled in it. Because of her choice to stay out of the way she ends up a really good listener to both Olivia and Orsino fueling the romantic choices.

I like how they do something different in letting Viola’s boyish looks be because she’s gender nonconforming, not another girl disguises herself as a boy to get into sports or whatever male-dominated thing. It’s been done to death and let’s face it, won’t ever be as good as She’s the Man.

However, my favorite of the burgeoning series was King Cheer. It helps that I don’t really know the play, King Lear, that it’s based on so it was a twisty ride that I couldn’t predict. It tackles the pressures seniors put on themselves to get their dream college, wrapping their self-worth into it and ruining the work-life balance as is the case with Claire who begins hallucinating and going off the deep end.

Although it doesn’t help that there’s three spanners in the works in the form of co-cheer captain successors, Gabe and Rae (who are basically Team Rocket in both design and personality) that steal the show in my opinion even though their form of cheer is “Win at all costs” than “We’re all in this together.” And Duke who adds to the fire because of daddy issues, and. . .

Well you gotta read it yourself honestly. It had excellent designs, vivid color palette, humor and drama with nice character interaction which is always a hook for me because if I don’t care about the characters relationships, I don’t care. I hope they do a Taming of the Shrew next.