In this dissertation, I challenge the dominant assumptions in science fiction and children's literature criticism: that young children's science fiction is exclusively poor quality, unwelcoming to girls, and lacking in diversity. Most of all, I refute the bias that children do not or cannot read science fiction before they reach 12 years of age.…

Susan Price's "Odin Trilogy" (2005-2008) is a juvenile science fiction series that depicts a future where class relations have become polarised due to late capitalist and technological developments and where ways of doing gender continue to be strongly connected with class. The society in the novels is based on slavery: people are either…

Children's literature comes from a number of different sources--folklore (folk- and fairy tales), books originally for adults and subsequently adapted for children, and material authored specifically for them--and its audience ranges from infants through middle graders to young adults (readers from about 12 to 18 years old). Its forms include…

Based on more than twenty years' experience working to get boys interested in reading, the author now offers his first readers' advisory volume. With an emphasis on nonfiction and the boy-friendly categories of genre fiction, the work offers a wealth of material including: (1) Suggestions for how to booktalk one-on-one as well as in large groups;…

The following essay is a close reading of Madeleine L'Engle's science fantasy novel, "A Wind in the Door", in which young Meg Murry travels first to outer space and then into her younger brother's ailing cells. The novel is a fine example of high fantasy (also known as heroic fantasy) wherein a humble protagonist is called to a quest to fight a…

Of the more than 5000 books reviewed in "School Library Journal's" ("SLJ's") pages in 2008, the 67 books listed in this article stood out as having distinctive voices, singular vision, and/or innovative approaches. They include books for toddlers and preschoolers, terrific picture books and easy readers, and some highly original novels. Fantasy,…

Orson Scott Card's school stories in outer space, "Ender's Game" and "Ender's Shadow," purportedly occur at the same time and tell the "same" story, but from the perspectives of two different child protagonists. Scenes in "Ender's Shadow" even reproduce text from "Ender's Game." Nevertheless, 14 years elapsed between the publications of the two…

The question this article addresses is: Is "Artemis" art? That is, how successful is Eoin Colfer's attempt to combine disparate forms, such as fairy stories, science fiction stories and thrillers in the three "Artemis Fowl" novels? Basic elements of story, such as narrative stance, characterisation and plot, as well as some particularly…

Elaborates on an author's use of the journey motif and traces and examines its use in her novels. (NKA)

This collection of 40 articles and essays on English-language children's literature encompasses literary history and criticism, standards, changing tastes, the child's response to books, writers and their writing, illustration, and recent books. Most of the articles and essays were written in the 1960's, but a few important earlier contributions…

Profiles Gloria Skurzynski, author of more than two dozen books for children and young adults. Outlines her career and discusses some of her books: novels, mysteries, science fiction, and nonfiction. Provides an annotated bibliography of seven of her books and suggests class activities in survival, research, language arts, interviewing, science,…

Columbus (Georgia) College's Challenge Squared program consists of three 2-week enrichment day camps for gifted students in grades 5 through 10. In past years, students have worked with an artist to create local history murals and have written and produced video plays in cooperation with a media specialist. Most recently, students were involved in…

Noting that books for children must be just as entertaining, if not more so, than television or film in order to maintain young readers' attention, this paper discusses combining entertainment with didacticism in children's and adolescent literature. The first part of the paper offers a writer's reflections on the experience of writing science…

The Cranston (Rhode Island) Secondary School Curriculum Guides are intended to serve as a resource to teachers, students, department heads, guidance personnel, curriculum planners, and anyone else involved in curriculum planning. The guides are also useful for describing and communicating secondary curriculum goals to the public when such a need…