A darkly stylized, noir adaptation of the classic story is set against a backdrop of Depression-era Manhattan and depicts, in vibrant graphic-novel detail, the story of a beleaguered girl who finds shelter with seven street urchins after the sudden death of her former Wall Street king father and suffering cruelty at the hands of her Queen of the Follies stepmother. - (Baker & Taylor)

In 1928 New York City, a young girl named Samantha White is sent away by her cold stepmother, only to return after the stock market has crashed to find her father gone and her ruthless stepmother after her inheritance. - (Baker & Taylor)

The scene: New York City. The dazzling lights cast shadows that grow ever darker as the glitzy prosperity of the Roaring Twenties screeches to a halt. Enter a cast of familiar characters: a young girl, Samantha White, returning after being sent away by her cruel stepmother, the Queen of the Follies, years earlier; her father, the King of Wall Street, who survives the stock market crash only to suffer a strange and sudden death; seven street urchins, brave protectors for a girl as pure as snow; and a mysterious stock ticker that holds the stepmother in its thrall, churning out ticker tape imprinted with the wicked words "Another ... More Beautiful ... KILL." - (Baker & Taylor)

Award-winning graphic novelist Matt Phelan delivers a darkly stylized noir Snow White set against the backdrop of Depression-era Manhattan.

The scene: New York City. The dazzling lights cast shadows that grow ever darker as the glitzy prosperity of the Roaring Twenties screeches to a halt. Enter a cast of familiar characters: a young girl, Samantha White, returning after being sent away by her cruel stepmother, the Queen of the Follies, years earlier; her father, the King of Wall Street, who survives the stock market crash only to suffer a strange and sudden death; seven street urchins, brave protectors for a girl as pure as snow; and a mysterious stock ticker that holds the stepmother in its thrall, churning out ticker tape imprinted with the wicked words 'Another . . . More Beautiful . . . KILL.' In a moody, cinematic new telling of a beloved fairy tale, extraordinary graphic novelist Matt Phelan captures the essence of classic film noir on the page'and draws a striking distinction between good and evil. - (Random House, Inc.)

Matt Phelan is the author-illustrator of three previous graphic novels: the Scott O'Dell Award'winning The Storm in the Barn, Around the World, and Bluffton, which was nominated for three Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, including Best Graphic Album. He is the author-illustrator of Druthers and the illustrator of many books for young readers, including Marilyn's Monster by Michelle Knudsen and The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron, winner of the Newbery Medal. Matt Phelan lives in Pennsylvania. - (Random House, Inc.)

Booklist Reviews

In a series of silent-movie-like vignettes, Phelan puts a Jazz Age spin on the classic tale of Snow White. Born to a wealthy steel magnate, Samantha White, known as Snow, wants for nothing until her mother dies, her father falls hard for a Ziegfeld girl, and her new stepmother ships her off to boarding school. When her father suffers an untimely death and her stepmother starts receiving villainous messages from a stock ticker, Snow runs away, finding refuge among a gang of seven street kids. Phelan punctuates his fittingly noirish palette of smoky, shadowy grays with bursts of pink and red—soft, aqueous patches for cheeks and lips with more saturated tones for apples. At times, the murky nighttime scenes are inscrutable, but readers will be charmed by subtle references to the iconic Disney film version, such as a street kid who's always sleepy and the stepmother's death by electrocution via a faulty wire on the Ziegfeld theater marquee. Readers hungry for graphic adaptations of fairy tales will find their appetites slaked here. Copyright 2016 Booklist Reviews.

Horn Book Guide Reviews

After poisoning her wealthy husband, Samantha "Snow" White's stepmother decides Samantha is next; fleeing, Samantha is rescued by seven street boys in a New York City Hooverville shantytown. Pencil, ink, and watercolor images (in mostly sepia tones) provide a cinematic noir sensibility, enhanced by the feel of movement, varied panel sizes, and judicious use of text. An original, darkly beautiful take. Copyright 2016 Horn Book Guide Reviews.

Horn Book Magazine Reviews

Phelan has visited the 1930s Dust Bowl in The Storm in the Barn (rev. 11/09), early-1900s vaudevillian Buster Keaton in Bluffton (rev. 11/13), and late-nineteenth-century explorers in Around the World (rev. 11/11). Here he heads off to glittery, pre–Depression era New York City to re-vision the Grimms' fairy tale. The book opens in 1928 with a stern-looking man asking a street urchin, "What's the story here?" as the NYPD cordons off what seems to be the dead body of a woman in a store-window holiday display. The rest of the book leads up to the answer. In a flashback to 1918, we see happy little Samantha "Snow" White playing with her mother in Central Park. Ten years later, Mama dead of tuberculosis, a Ziegfeld Follies showgirl easily ensnares and marries Samantha's wealthy older father. After sending the girl away to school and poisoning her husband, Samantha's stepmother, furious upon learning that the dead man left the bulk of his estate to his daughter, decides that Samantha is next. The girl, now a young woman, flees to a Hooverville shantytown, where she is rescued by seven street boys, and the story takes its classic course. Pencil, ink, and watercolor images (in mostly sepia tones, with occasional spots of color: red for the poisoned apple, for example) move readers' eyes across each page, providing an appropriately cinematic noir sensibility. This cinematic effect is further enhanced by the feel of constant movement, the varied panel sizes, and a judicious use of text. Some scenes are wordless; for others, Phelan uses varied fonts to enhance the drama. By the final wordless all-color sequence (spoiler: there is a happy ending), it is clear that this is an original and darkly beautiful take on the classic tale. monica edinger

Kirkus Reviews

Imagined through a 1920s lens, "Snow White" unfolds as a graphic novel. Samantha White, nicknamed Snow, loses her mother at a young age. Her father, a shrewd and wealthy businessman, remarries a blunt-bobbed and ruthless actress known as the "Queen of the Follies." In their large New York City apartment, the ticker tape whirrs stock updates and reminders of their fortune without cease. This, however, gets to Snow's stepmother, and she starts to see insidious messages—just like the ones her fairy-tale counterpart received from her enchanted mirror—that ignite a deadly and consuming jealousy. She engages a man to kill Snow, who is ultimately saved by a gang of seven orphaned boys. Her stepmother finally exacts her revenge—with a syringe and an apple—until Detective Prince saves the day. Phelan masterfully shifts a tale heavily reliant on magic and fantasy into a realistic and historical setting without compromising plausibility. Creating sweeping and dreamy watercolors that play with emotion and color, Phelan is an exquisite visual storyteller, and he lets expressive, wordless sequences carry a large portion of his interpretation. With a keen historical slant, a bit of action and intrigue, high visual interest, and the fairy-tale leaning, this will awe a wide readership. Brilliant. (Graphic adaptation. 9 & up) Copyright Kirkus 2016 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved.

Publishers Weekly Reviews

Phelan (Bluffton) delivers a spectacular 20th-century update of "Snow White," transplanting the story to Jazz Age and Depression-era New York City, where themes of jealousy, beauty, and power find a comfortable home. Years after tuberculosis has claimed the life of Samantha "Snow" White's mother, her father, "the King of Wall Street," finds a regal match in the "Queen of the Follies," whose Louise Brooks bob is as sharp as her glare. She soon dispatches her husband, only to learn that Snow stands to inherit his wealth; one of many exquisite touches is Phelan's use of a stock ticker as the magic mirror, rattling away like Poe's tell-tale heart as Snow's stepmother's ambitions shift into madness. Moody gray and sepia panels carry the story forward, punctuated by splashes of lurid red—for an animal heart, procured at a butcher's shop, or an apple tainted with a syringe. Snow's affectionate relationship with "the Seven," a group of street children, is among this adaptation's most potent elements. The boys are hesitant to tell Snow their names, but readers will want tissues on hand when they finally do. Ages 10–up. Agent: Rebecca Sherman, Writers House. (Sept.)

School Library Journal Reviews

Gr 4–8—Spanning the Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression, Phelan's noir-esque adaption of the classic fairy tale is atmospheric, clever, and touching. Samantha White, affectionately called Snow White by her ailing mother, is sent off to a boarding school as her father, the King of Wall Street, grieves his wife's death by marrying the dazzling Queen of the Follies. Banished from her home by her stepmother, the young woman returns a decade later after her father's mysterious death. Not content with the fortune left to her in her husband's will, the menacing bob-haired villain dispatches Mr. Hunter to kill off Snow, who gets lost in Hooverville, where she encounters the Seven, a group of diverse street kids who take her in. The graphic novel plays with the source material, using the trappings of the time period to add depth and nuance to the narrative. With the dramatics, pacing, and mostly black-and-white palette of a silent film, the lush and stark watercolors showcase the good and evil aspects of the era to tell a timeless tale of love, betrayal, and family. Splashes of red are economically and strategically used to add drama to the presentation, from the drops of blood on Snow's mother's handkerchief to the scarlet of the poisonous apple. Themes of class are also explored here, making this a title worth sharing and studying at multiple levels. Especially resonant are the relationships that the heroine builds with her young protectors. The last few colorful pages will tug at heartstrings as Snow, the Seven, and an intrepid Detective Prince get their happy endings. VERDICT A stunning, genre-bending graphic novel for all middle grade and middle school collections.—Shelley Diaz, School Library Journal