Shifting Places

It seems fitting to publish a special issue on mobility at a time when Jeunesse’s editorial board is undergoing significant shifts. This issue marks the beginning of my tenure as lead editor. The loss of Mavis Reimer as lead editor will be felt profoundly. Reimer led the transformation of Canadian Children’s Literature / Littérature canadienne pour la jeunesse into Jeunesse, a move that signalled the turn for the journal toward an international scope and an interdisciplinary reach in the study of young people’s texts and cultures. Over the past eight years, she has also generously given her time and expertise to teaching three junior editors—Doris Wolf, Catherine Tosenberger, and me—how to work together to manage a biannual journal that has seen an increasing number of submissions since the publication of the first issue in 2009. Most of what I know about managing and editing an academic journal I learned from Reimer, and so it is with the knowledge that I have gained working with her that I adopt the role of lead editor. Since Reimer will spend another year as part of the editorial team as I acclimatize to my new role, she and I are effectively shifting places.

Over the years since the formation of Jeunesse, there has been regular mobility in the editorial ranks. The following editors have been instrumental in shaping the journal: charlie peters (2009–11), a specialist in early nineteenth-century literature; Laurent Poliquin (2009–11), a specialist in French; Catherine Tosenberger (2009–12), specialist in folklore, fandom studies, and YA literature; Jenny Wills (2012–14), a specialist in critical race studies; and Doris Wolf (2009–15), a specialist in Canadian and Indigenous texts. Naomi Hamer, who specializes in children’s picture books, films, television, and audience studies, and Mary LeMaître, specialist in colonial discourse analysis and French, joined the editorial team in 2013. In a move that signalled an even greater embrace of an international scope for the journal, we welcomed three new highly skilled editors to the team in the fall of 2015: Kristine Alexander, an Assistant Professor of History and the Canada Research Chair in Child and Youth Studies at the University of Lethbridge who works on the history of children and adolescents in the context of imperialism, globalization, and the First World War; Angela Dwyer, an Associate Professor in Police Studies and Emergency Management at the University of Tasmania who works on policing experiences, queer young people, and sexuality from a law, criminology, and sociology perspective; and Louise Saldanha, an instructor in the English Department at Douglas College whose work focuses on critical theories of race, gender, migrancy, disability, and pedagogy. I have no doubt that this formidable editing team will be able to meet the challenges of an interdisciplinary and often multidisciplinary journal with great alacrity.

A journal would be nothing without its copy editors and proofreaders, the frequently uncelebrated people behind the scenes who labour to ensure that no errors remain in the final copy. Melanie Unrau (2009–10) served as the first copy editor of Jeunesse, followed by Benjamin Lefebvre (2010–16), an expert in Canadian literature and young people’s texts. charlie peters proofread the first issue of the journal but was succeeded by Miria Olsen (2009–12) and then by Catherine Logan (2012–14). Lauren Bosc, a graduate of the University of Winnipeg’s M.A. program in Cultural Studies, is the current proofreader. All of these individuals have helped to make Jeunesse a successful journal.

The fact that this issue focuses on mobility at a time when we are seeing much mobility on the editorial board is, of course, pure coincidence. It is nevertheless a pleasant coincidence, one that enabled me to reflect on where we have been and to look forward to where we may be going. I should add here that this is only the second special issue we have published. The first, on consumption, appeared in 2014. Encouraged by the success of that issue, we decided to put together a collection of articles on another key theme relevant to young people today: mobility. Our call for papers for this...