Mimetic Fiction; Schools; Series

Special Section: English Journal 83.2 (Feb. 1994): 35-64. Narrative: Inventing the Truth. How English teachers deal with the blend of documentary history and narrative invention. Annotated bibliography.

Special Issue: Teaching and Learning Literature 4.1 (Sept./Oct. 1994): Historical Fiction.

Allan, Mabel Esther. 'Ragged Robin' Began It, and Other Articles about Old Girls' Book. Heswall, Wirrall: author, 1993. 116 p. £3. Available from the author at 11 Oldfield Way, Heswall, Wirral, England L60 6RQ. Most of these articles have appeared in small-circulation journals. Allan writes about the books she enjoyed when young, which became the core of a collection of girls' books built up since 1970. Of value to researchers of popular girls' stories published in Britain in the early part of the century. S.G.R.

Bathurst, David. Six of the Best! Chichester: Romansmead, 1994. 192 p. ISBN 0-9523936-0-3. £4.95. Available, plus postage, from author at 46 Mosse Gardens, Fishbourne, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 3PQ. An outline history of the school story, paying special attention to 6 authors: Harold Avery, Angela Brazil, Frank Richards, Elinor Brent-Dyer, Anthony Buckeridge, and Phil Redmond. S.G.R.

Brady, Jeanne. "Reading the American Dream: The History of the American Girl Collection." Teaching and Learning Literature 4.1 (Sept./Oct. 1994): 2-6. Describes the successful, expensive collection of 5 dolls and the accompanying texts. Argues that the collection, targeted at the white upper middle class, "produces a narrative of national identity that is Eurocentric and sexist." G.A.

Craig, Patricia, ed. The Oxford Book of Schooldays. London: Oxford UP. 430 p. ISBN 0-19-214203-8. £17.95. Positive review E. S. Turner, "A Dank Whiff of Portuguese Laurels," TLS 11 Feb. 1994: 22. A "non-chronological roundup" of essays and fiction by various notables (Muir, Waugh, Wallace, C. S. Lewis, Mary McCarthy), and those less well known, on schools. Weighted toward the last 150 years and toward public schools. G.A.

Feldman, Sally. "Series of Desire." Books for Keeps 84 (1994): 20-21. Discusses the books teenagers buy for themselves: romance, horror, and a combination of the two. Series mentioned include Babysitters Club, Sweet Valley High, Point Horror, and Nightmares. S.G.R.

Iskander, Sylvia. "Mystery Stories and Detective Fiction." Five Owls 8.4 (March/April 1994): 73-80. A useful overview covering the history of the genre for children, series, character types, and information about the Edgar Award. Annotated bibliography. G.A.

Jordan, Anne Devereaux. "'Getting to Know You, Getting to Know All about You': Biography." Teaching and Learning Literature 4.2 (Nov./Dec. 1994): 18-23. Surveys the history of biography for children, the fictional components, etc. Followed by a biography workshop, 24-25. G.A.

Jordan, Anne Devereaux. "Traveling the Past: Historical Fiction." Teaching and Learning Literature 4.1 (Sept./Oct. 1994): 18-22. Traces the genre back to Defoe, defines it, and discusses reading and enjoying some classics, primarily of the U.S. G.A.

Makowski, Silk. "Serious about Series: Selection Criteria for a Neglected Genre."VOYA 16.6 (Feb. 1994): 349-51. Proposes criteria for judging YA paperback series and encourages librarians to consider acquiring series. K.P.

Rosson, Steve. "Pointless Horror?" Book for Keeps 89 (1994): 23. Comments on the current popularity in Britain of the American horror series for teenagers. S.G.R.

Sarland, Charles. "Attack of the Teenage Horrors: Theme and Meaning in Popular Series Fiction." Signal 73 (Jan. 1994): 49-62. Examines 10 Point Horror books in terms of genre indicators: plot, social groups, trust, identity, isolation, predominance of single-parent families. G.A.

Sarland, Charles. "Revenge of the Teenage Horrors: Pleasure, Quality, and Canonicity in (and out of) Popular Series Fiction." Signal 74 (May 1994): 113-31. Looks at the criteria by which 12-year-olds make discriminatory judgments and discusses how teachers can take children across the divide between reading for pleasure and the study of literature. S.G.R.

See also AUTHORS: John Bennett, Enid Blyton, Elinor Brent-Dyer, Dorita Fairlie Bruce, Richmal Crompton, Arthur Conan Doyle, Patricia Lee Gauch, Irene Hunt, Carolyn Keene, Lorna Lewis, David McRobbie, L. T. Meade, Violet Needham, Deborah Savage, Edward Stratemeyer, Rosemary...