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Legend: The Graphic Novel
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A lot or a little?
The parents' guide to what's in this book.
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that Legend: The Graphic Novel adapts the first volume of Marie Lu's popular trilogy. It captures the main points of the plot but leaves out much of its subtlety. Although it mostly refrains from depicting graphic bloodshed, Legend does feature many scenes of violence, including gunplay, medical experimentation on children, a fatal stabbing, and an execution by firing squad. A boy sees his mother shot in the head. Sexual content is limited to one brief passionate kiss. Two teens share a bottle of wine. "Hell" and "damn" are used less than a dozen times.
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What's the story?
Perpetually at war with its neighbors, the Colonies, the Republic of America needs young military leaders just like 15-year-old June. A genuine prodigy, June is obedient and committed to her country. But when her beloved brother is killed, she begins to question what she's been taught. When she meets Day, the Republic's most-wanted criminal, she begins to see the brutality of the regime to which she's devoted her life.
Is it any good?
Legend was not a novel that lends itself easily to adaptation as a graphic novel. There's plenty of action in LEGEND: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL, but the incidents and the characters somehow seem disconnected from each other. Divorced from Lu's prose, the adapted dialogue seems stiff. The manga-influenced artwork by Kaari does depict action scenes with clarity and style, but the story's quieter moments don't always ring true. Fans of the novels may enjoy this adaptation, but readers eager to explore Lu's futuristic setting would be better off starting with the original books.
Talk to your kids about ...
Families can talk about why dystopian visions of the future are so prevalent in books and movies. What's so compelling about that kind of a society?
If you've read Legend in novel form, how do you think the graphic novel compares? Do you like it as much?
Book details
- Authors: Marie Lu, Leigh Dragoon
- Illustrator: Kaari
- Genre: Science Fiction
- Topics: Sports and Martial Arts, Brothers and Sisters, Misfits and Underdogs
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
- Publication date: April 21, 2015
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 12 - 17
- Number of pages: 160
- Available on: Paperback, iBooks, Kindle
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