Overview

Many of us grew up exploring fascinating worlds--in books, films, and, most importantly, our imaginations--places filled with mythological characters and magical landscapes where we had stunning experiences punctuated by the harmless pleasures that any child's mind can conjure. These worlds sometimes end up in our childhood fictions, which have in turn shaped countless imaginations and childhood adventures. The essays in this book attempt to comprehend the worlds of children's progressive fiction--from how they are created to how they affect readers. This book explores what happens when speculative genres (fantasy, horror, and science fiction) and imaginative spaces collide headlong with the realities and surrealities of modern childhood. It moves back and forth between Oz, Wonderland, Redwall and Fear Street, and explores series such as Nancy Drew, Inkheart, The Mortal Instruments, the Miss Peregrine series and more. Many of these works feature children who must save the day--to stop the bad guy, kill the monster, complete the quest and rescue adults--leading us to wonder if fantastic spaces in children's progressive fiction are really helping kids prepare to save the world rather than helping them temporarily escape it.

Full Product Details

Author:   Michael G. Cornelius ,  Marybeth Ragsdale-Richards
Publisher:   McFarland & Co Inc
Imprint:   McFarland & Co Inc
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 1.20cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.313kg
ISBN:  

9781476686585

ISBN 10:   1476686580
Pages:   239
Publication Date:   11 January 2023
Recommended Age:   From 18 years
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Table of Contents Acknowledgments Introduction: Sites of Speculation: Contestation, Imagination, and the Places of Childhood Fancy Michael G. Cornelius Alice Retaught: A Child’s Experience of ­Rule-Making and ­Rule-Following in Social Space Dakota Root On the Road to Oz: Crossing Fantasy Spaces in L. Frank Baum’s Oz Series Steven A. Nardi Topoi and Character in the Redwall Series John R. Gilhooly Mind the Verbal Cartographic Gap: Uncovering Power in the Fantasy Multiverse of Diana Wynne Jones’ Chrestomanci Series Julia Jin Wang The Map Is Not the Territory: Mapping Growth and Change in Catherynne M. Valente’s Fairyland Series Ellis Khachidze Sowing the Seeds of Fear: Architecting Fearscapes in R.L. Stine’s Fear Street Saga Marybeth Ragsdale-Richards (Un)Making Hell: Mirror Journeys in The Mortal Instruments and Dante’s Inferno Raphaela Behounek Myth, Place, and Time in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children Sean Ferrier-Watson Space as a Journey to Survival in Ann Aguirre’s Enclave Jessica Newman-Doubell Terror Castles and Red Gate Farms: “Haunted” Childhoods and the Commodification of Space Michael G. Cornelius Understanding ­Multi-World Metafiction Through ­Place-Attachment: Base World, New World, and (In)Complete World in the Inkheart Trilogy Wenduo Zhang Conclusion: The Limits of Fancy Michael G. Cornelius and Marybeth Ragsdale-Richards About the Contributors Index

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Author Information

Michael G. Cornelius is a professor of English and director of the Master’s of Humanities program at Wilson College in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. He is an award-winning novelist and the author or editor of numerous scholarly works. Marybeth Ragsdale-Richards teaches in the English and Women’s Studies programs at Wilson College in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.

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