Ana of California by Andi Teran + a Giveaway

With all the retellings coming out these days I'm almost surprised that Andi Teran is the first (that I know of) to take on Anne of Green Gables. That's right, if you didn't know then now you do - Ana of California, out now from Penguin, is a take on the beloved Lucy Maud Montgomery classic. Thanks to the publisher, I get to offer up a set - Ana and Anne - to give away today. Be sure to read through to the end to enter.

After being booted from her latest foster home, Ana is certain she's bound for yet another group home. But her social worker has one last trick up her sleeve: Ana is to be sent to the small town of Hadley, California, to live and work with the Garbers on their farm.

Siblings Abbie and Emmett were looking for a farm hand for the season, ideally a college student who would work for class credit, but found no takers. So when Ana is offered up, Abbie doesn't say no. Emmett has his concerns about taking on a girl for an employee, but Ana soon convinces him otherwise. 

Now, on her best behavior, Ana is determined to make things work. But trouble has a way of finding her...

I had some concerns going into this book, mainly that in taking on a story that is so close to so many readers' hearts that Teran might have taken on a little more than she could handle. Thankfully, Teran proved me oh, so wrong!

It was impossible for me not to love Ana and her story. It's a modern twist on the classic, moving it from Canada to California. Ana is an orphan who lost her parents to violence and crime. In this case, it's Emmett who's somewhat hardened against the girl and Abbie who has almost no reservations at all about taking her in before she arrives. Even the hair dying incident and the unforgettable cordial episode are given their own updated twist.

I find the most successful adaptations, for me as a reader, are those that maintain the spirit of the original while standing apart as their own story and Andi Teran has done that in Ana of California. This is not a play by play retelling of Anne set in California, Ana is her own character and her story is her own as well. She and Anne would be best of friends, though. Bosom buddies for sure!

Rating: 4.5/5

And now for that fabulously awesome giveaway I promised. Again, the publisher is letting me offer up an Ana/Anne set - that's right, one of you will win both Andi Teran's Ana of California and Lucy Maude Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables! To enter just fill out the Rafflecopter below before Monday, July 20. Open US only and no PO boxes please.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


(Bonus for book clubbers: the good folks at Penguin have prepared an online book club kit for Ana of California. You can find that here.)