| Description |
1 online resource (x, 266 pages) |
| Contents |
Once upon a crime: homicide in American culture and popular children's literature from "Bluebeard" to Harry Potter -- "You must kill her and bring me her lungs and liver as proof": "Snow White" and the fact as well as fantasy of filicide -- "The queen had only one way of settling all difficulties ... 'off with his head!' ": Alice's adventures in Wonderland and the anti-gallows movement -- "Swarthy, sun-tanned, villainous looking fellows": Tarzan of the apes and criminal anthropology -- -- "A sixth sense seemed to tell her that she had encountered something unusual": psychic sleuthing in the Nancy Drew mystery series -- "How'd you like that haircut to begin just below the chin?": juvenile delinquency, teenager killers and a pulp aesthetic in the Outsiders -- "My job is ... to make you a human being in the eyes of the jury": confronting the dramatization-and demonization-of murder in Walter Dean Myers' monster -- Epilogue: "Just because you don't have a pulse doesn't mean you can't be perky": my so-called death, young adult zombie fiction and murder in the posthuman age |
| Summary |
Given the long-standing belief that children ought to be shielded from disturbing life events, it is surprising to see how many stories for kids involve killing. This is a full-length critical study of this pervasive theme of murder in children’s literature. Through rereadings of well-known works, such as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories, and The Outsiders, the author explores how acts of homicide connect these works with an array of previously unforeseen literary, social, political, and cultural issues |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index |
| Notes |
English |
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Print version record |
| Subject |
Children's literature, English -- History and criticism
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Children's literature, American -- History and criticism
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Homicide in literature.
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Crime in popular culture -- United States -- History
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Literature and society -- United States -- History
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Social values in literature.
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Murder in literature.
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Children's literature, American
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Children's literature, English
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Crime in popular culture
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Homicide in literature
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Literature and society
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Murder in literature
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Social values in literature
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United States
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| Genre/Form |
Criticism, interpretation, etc.
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History
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| Form |
Electronic book
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| LC no. |
2012025276 |
| ISBN |
1421408414 |
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9781421408415 |
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