Our library recently added two new graphic novels to our collection, by Fanny Britt and Isabelle Arsenault. I was immediately drawn to Jane, the Fox & Me because of the allusion to Jane Eyre. It's been one of my favorites since I first read it.
Helene is a young teen girl who is ostracized by the other girls in her grade. They torment her with words written on bathroom walls and vicious gossip. These portions of the book are done in grayscale illustrations.
But when she escapes into the world of Jane Eyre, she is able to forget about them. When Helene reads, the pictures become colorful.
Her class goes on a trip to a camp, where she discovers a fox. She is entranced by its beauty, and feels bold enough to let it approach her as she sits on the steps of her cabin.
The fox acts as a symbol of impending freedom; soon Helene decides to get to know the other loners in her cabin, and she is freed from her feelings on insecurity and loneliness.
Not only is Jane Eyre one of my favorite books, but it is responsible for creating so many themes and traditions in our literature (the man woman in the attic, and the way Bronte breaks the fourth wall when she addresses the reader with "Reader, I married him"). This book could be a young reader's introduction to that classic story in a way that is colorful and relatable.
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