The world of literature is vast and full of incredible gifts for anyone who chooses to seek them out. But sometimes novels, as they are written, can be inaccessible to some readers for a variety of reasons. In some cases, the language might be outdated and difficult to parse. In other cases, the way a novel is written may be a little too complex for some reading levels. 

We want to be clear: there’s a lot of benefit to reading an original text when it is possible and reasonable to do so! But we also believe that when there is a barrier to accessing the original text, people can still benefit from learning about these stories. That is where adapted novels come in!

What exactly is an adapted novel?

It’s a novel with a more simplified, accessible language that preserves the core story. It’s true that in streamlining and simplifying a story, some of the nuances are necessarily lost. But an adapted novel seeks to reflect the central themes and moments of a book, even if it cannot capture every detail and complexity.

Lots of different places offer adapted novels. If you want to check out our adapted novel collection, you can click here! Our adapted novels focus on accessibility and comprehension, especially for Autistic students.

What kinds of adapted novels are out there? Let’s take a look!

At its most basic level, an adapted novel can just be a simplified version of the original text. 

A common example is Shakespeare! There are many examples of Shakespeare being updated to more modern English. There are also plenty of examples of Shakespeare being boiled down into shorter versions. Shakespeare is also an example where there are so many adapted versions that you can really focus on your priorities as a reader or teacher. 

Do you just want something with more modern language? Something accessible to a special education class? Simplified texts are the most straightforward way to adapt a novel!

Another helpful way adapted novels can boost comprehension is to include comprehension exercises. They might be as simple as some basic questions about the text. They might include exercises that help us better understand the relationships between the characters, or what things were like in the time period, or what role each character plays in the story. 

The purpose of these exercises isn’t necessarily to test readers but to continue the conversation, much like we often do after reading the original version of a novel. 

At AGU, we like to include comprehension exercises that help drive home the core story and reinforce readers’ understanding of the roles each character plays and their relationship to each other.

We hope we have piqued your interest in the potential for adapted novels, and that you will consider trying one yourself or including it in your curriculum. We hope you will check out our Adapted Novel Library! If there is a public domain work you would like to see us adapt, we would love to hear from you, just drop us a line at hello@autismgrownup.com.