He is one of the most loved characters in children's literature in the world. We are talking about Anastasia Krupnik, an enterprising twelve-year-old girl born over forty years ago from the imagination of the American writer Lois Lowry and protagonist of a series of highly successful novels. Finally, more than twenty years after the last publication in Italy, his adventures are back in bookstores in a new translation.
To open the dance is "Anastasia, again!" (Publisher 21lettere, 2021, pp. 160), a hilarious story in which we see the protagonist struggling with a novelty that worries her a lot: a move to a new house in the residential districts.
Anastasia is sure, she has read it somewhere: in the residential areas there are only housewives with curlers and cheap furniture. What will they have to share with the painter mother and the father who leaves books everywhere and listens to Mozart? Will his little brother Sam be able to settle in? And will she still find her own spaces? Anastasia is convinced that this move is the beginning of the end… but she will find that the changes are much better than one expects them.
Lively and impertinent, Anastasia, despite the more than forty years since the first publication, seems made to conquer the young people of Generation Z, with her load of non-conformism and her innate love for independent choices.
We then ask Alberto Bisi, creator of the publishing house 21lettere, how the idea of reviving the character in Italy was born.
“We thought about it because Anastasia is fun first and foremost. Because Anastasia teaches a lot and is one of the most successful characters among those coming from the pen of a fine author like Lois Lowry. His adventures have grown entire generations abroad, but he hasn't been found with us for years. We then proposed them with a new translation. Then in the choice there is also a factor, so to speak, personal ".
Which?
“My daughter is about to be Anastasia's age and I was looking for a series of children's books with a female lead. I had, in fact, realized that the protagonists of the cartoons, films, books that I knew were almost all males, and I thought that growing up seeing oneself in a mirror image (not the protagonist but the apparatus, the assistant, the support) was an injustice. So, in search of the female character we started from the top and it was a surprise to realize that Anastasia was available. We fell in love with Lois Lowry and she flatters us that the appreciation is mutual. A sort of twinning was born that led us to decide to publish his other books, not just those related to Anastasia ”.
Returning to our young protagonist, what are the main characteristics of the series of short novels dedicated to her?
"The fun, the irony, the joie de vivre of adolescence and the teachings without moralisms: even though Anastasia is amusing even in spite of herself, the reader never ceases to be on her side, to keep her part".
What are the elements of modernity of a character like Anastasia?
“I would say that the elements of modernity are her emancipation and also Lois Lowry's approach, which brings us closer to Anastasia by cheering for her, but also laughing at her, partly distancing herself, with irony and fun”.
Do you have other initiatives like this one in mind, dedicated to children?
“We always try to be attentive and open to new authors, including Italians, for books to be discovered or enhanced, always in accordance with our format which provides for the publication of only six books per year. As for children's books, for now we will continue with the saga of Anastasia, a character whose second adventure we have already published, entitled Anastasia at your service. Then next year Gossamer is expected, another novel for young people always written by Lois Lowry ”.