Hope Jahren Expands on Mark Twain

The Book Case

Every so often, a new author tackles the work of expanding a classic novel to expand its reach. Even more rarely, they succeed beautifully. This week’s book, Adventures of Mary Jane is just such a rare gem. Mary Jane's author, Hope Jahren, is a scientist (a geochemist, no less) who decided to write the story of Mary Jane, a character that haunted her from the pages of Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn her entire life. It is both a magical adventure story and an authentic and well written coming of age drama. This week’s bookstore is Where the Sidewalk Ends, which is also run by two generations in tandem. We talk to them about how they do it…and we commiserate on working with daughters and parents. Join us.

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

• Adventures of Mary Jane by Hope Jahren
• Lab Girl by Hope Jahren
• The Story of More: How We Got to Climate Change and Where to Go from Here by Hope Jahren
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
• Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
• Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
• Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
• A Man without a Country by Kurt Vonnegut
• Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
• Good Night, Irene by Luis Alberto Urrea
• Elephant Company: The Inspiring Story of an Unlikely Hero and the Animals that Helped him Save Lives in World War II by Vicki Constantine Croke
• The Lost Boy of Santa Chionia by Juliet Grames-RELEASES 7/23/2024
• More or Less Maddy by Lisa Genova-RELEASES 1/14/2025

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