Snow White and the Seven Robots
The Far-Out Fairy Tales series
Louise Simonson, illustrations by Jimena Sanchez S.
Stone Arch Books
Fiction, CH Graphic Novel/Sci-Fi
***+ (Okay/Good)
DESCRIPTION: Once upon a time on the distant planet Techworld, the Queen's scientists created an heir to the crown... but the jealous ruler sabotaged the process, creating a hideously pale baby with ugly red lips and dark hair, entirely unfit to take the throne. When young Snow White's intelligence threatens her own, the Queen sends her off to live with a trash collection robot in the filthiest part of Low Town, hoping to break the girl's spirit - but when the girl thrives, the Queen resorts to extreme measures.
REVIEW: Snow White gets an imaginative sci-fi twist in this graphic novel. Instead of beauty, it's brains that fuel the evil Queen's jealousy, but of course Snow also has compassion, kindness, and all the other traits that ultimately make her a better person and gain her needed allies. The girl's a tech whiz, using her prodigious robot repair skills to win friends among the downtrodden humans and robots of Techworld and beyond. The "prince" is an apprentice scientist from Low Town who proves an ally long before the poisoning incident (which isn't solved with a kiss.) I trimmed it a half-point for being a bit too flat, and for a slightly questionable choice to emphasize the white skin of Snow against the green evil Queen (which I expect, or rather hope, wasn't meant to have a racial subtext, but still made me pause.) Younger readers, particularly girls looking for brainy heroines, would doubtless enjoy it more. As Snow White adaptations go, I've seen far worse.
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