Synopses & Reviews
Robert Cormier is widely recognized as one of the leading authors of young adult fiction. This collection of brand new essays demonstrates a variety of critical approaches to Cormier's work, including his best-known novels and lesser-studied texts. It offers an accessible examination of the author's considerable impact on children's literature.
Review
"Offers diverse perspectives on Cormier's oeuvre and gives the reader many ways into his work." - Janet Kaufman, University of Utah
"The various essays work successfully together to provide the reader with a wide range of critical approaches to diverse texts within Cormier's oeuvre." - Elizabeth Thiel, University of Roehampton, UK
About the Author
ADRIENNE E. GAVIN is a professor of English Literature at Canterbury Christ Church University, UK. She is the co-editor of Mystery in Children's Literature (2001) and Childhood in Edwardian Fiction (2009), both of which are published by Palgrave Macmillan.
Table of Contents
Series Editor's Preface
Notes on Contributors
Introduction; A.E.Gavin
Fade to Black: Adolescent Invisibility in the Works of Robert Cormier; K.Huenemann'So many disguises': Questions of Identity in Robert Cormier's After the First Death and Heroes; A.F.HumphriesFascinated by Evil: Robert Cormier as a Catholic Novelist; P.Pinsent'Nobody out of context': Representations of Child Corruption in Robert Cormier's Crime Novels; S.Ciocia'You have to outlast them': Bullying in The Chocolate War and Beyond the Chocolate War; A.CumminsMannerbund and Hitler-Jugend: Queer Perceptions of Nazis In and Beyond Robert Cormier's The Chocolate War; H.BlackfordInducing Despair?: A Study of Robert Cormier's Young Adult Fiction; C.WalshFacing the Truth: Robert Cormier, His Readers, and 'Reality'; S.ClancyInteractive Texts and Active Readers: Robert Cormier's 'Adolescent Poetics' in the Light of Wolfgang Iser's Theory of Aesthetic Response; D.Politis Bibliography of Robert Cormier's Work and Suggested Further Reading
Index