Science Fiction for Young Readers

by C. W. Sullivan III

Overview

In this collection of essays, authorities on a wide range of topics related to science fiction discuss themes and particular works of special interest to young readers. The chapters cover the founding works of science fiction for young readers, specific authors and their works, and science fiction as a vehicle for exploring philosophical, religious, and social ideas. Essays discuss the literary and thematic elements of science fiction and shed light on the evolution of science fiction as a genre for young readers.

The volume begins with a section of essays on the origins of science fiction as a genre for young readers. In this section are chapters on such topics as Victor Appleton's Tom Swift series, the contributions of Madeleine L'Engle, the impact and influence of Isaac Asimov, and the significance of Robert A. Heinlein. The second section contains chapters on particular themes, authors, and literary works. By approaching works and authors through particular themes, the chapters in this section offer a comprehensive view of the achievements of individual writers and demonstrate how certain themes bind together a particular author's works. The third section, on science fiction as a vehicle for ideas, steps away from the literary and stylistic devices of science fiction and looks beyond the genre to the larger ideas that science fiction conveys.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780313272899
Publisher:	ABC-CLIO, Incorporated
Publication date:	03/24/1993
Series:	Contributions to the Study of Science Fiction and Fantasy Series , #56
Pages:	232
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.69(d)

About the Author

C. W. SULLIVAN III is Professor of English and Director of Graduate Studies in English at East Carolina University. An authority on medieval Welsh literature, mythology, folklore, and fantasy, his publications include Welsh Celtic Myth in Modern Fantasy (Greenwood Press, 1989). He is Editor of The Children's Folklore Review and current President of the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts.

Table of Contents

The Shapers of Science Fiction for Young Readers

The Tom Swift Books by Francis J. Molson

Heinlein's Juveniles: Growing Up in Outer Space by C. W. Sullivan III

The Formulaic and Rites of Passage in Andre Norton's Magic Series by Roger C. Schlobin

Asimov: Man Thinking by Elizabeth Anne Hull

The Terrible Journey past Dragons in the Water to House like Lotus: Faces of Love in the Fiction of Madeleine L'Engle by M. Sarah Smedman

Specific Authors and Their Works

The Things of a Child: Coming Full-Circle With Alan E. Nourse's Raiders From the Rings by Howard V. Hendrix

Masters, Slaves, and Rebels: Dystopia as Defined and Defied by John Christopher by K.V. Bailey

Danger Quotient, Fiskadoro, Riddley Walker, and the Failure of the Campbellian Monomyth by Millicent Lenz

Growing Home: The Triumph of Youth in the Novels of H.M. Hoover by Thom Dunn and Karl Hiller

The British Science Fiction of Louise Lawrence by Marilyn Fain Apseloff

The Debate Continues: Technology or Nature—A Study of Monica Hughes' SF Novels by J.R. Wytenbroek

Myth in Action: The Trials and Transformation of Menolly by Patricia Harkins

SF as Vehicle for Ideas

True Myth: Female Archetypes in Monica Hughes' The Keeper of the Isis Light by Raymond E. Jones

Neo-Gnostic Elements in Louise Lawrence's Moonwind by Judith N. Mitchell

Captain Kirk and Dr. Who: Meliorist and Spenglarian World Views in Fiction for Young Adults by Joseph O. Milner

Raymond Briggs' When the Wind Blows: Toward an Ecology of the Mind for Young Readers by Millicent Lenz

Selected Bibliography of Criticism

Index

About the Editor and Contributors