Presenting M.E. Kerr

by Alleen Pace Nilsen, M.E. Kerr

Hailed for her wit and skill at wordplay, M. E. Kerr has written some twenty-five books for young adults in the past quarter century. For novels like Dinky Hocker Shoots Smack!, Gentlehands, Night Kites, and the autobiographical ME ME ME ME ME: Not a Novel, Kerr was honored with the prestigious Margaret A. Edwards Award from the American Library Association in 1993. Notably, she is the first young adult novelist to speak openly about her lesbianism. With Presenting M. E. Kerr, Updated, Alleen Pace Nilsen provides a fresh, thoroughly revised look at the achievements of this popular writer for young adults. Like its warmly received predecessor, the study presents a biographical profile of Kerr and discusses the features characterizing her books, among them Kerr's deftness at creating names and her skill at composing dialogue. But this new edition also inspects the substantial body of work produced by Kerr in the intervening decade - including the acclaimed young adult novels Linger and Deliver Us from Evie - as well as the extensive critical literature written about her efforts. In addition, Nilsen traces homosexual elements throughout Kerr's work, examining with sensitivity and respect the ways in which the writer uses various other forms of prejudice, such as ethnic and socioeconomic differences among people, as metaphors for homophobia. In separate chapters, Nilsen treats Kerr's larger body of work - comprising adult fiction and nonfiction, works of mystery and suspense, and novels for children in the middle grades - and analyzes her style, humor, and concern with the underdog. Throughout, readers are treated to a wealth of insights into the writer's art and life, ranging from quotations from Nilsen's interviews with Kerr to selections of Kerr's photographs.

Hardcover

First published June 1, 1986

About the author

Alleen Pace Nilsen is in the Humanities Division of Arizona State University's Emeritus College. Together with Don L.F. Nilsen, she has authored an abundance of books including Literature for Today's Young Adults (2012), Pronunciation Contrasts in English (2010) and Encyclopedia of 20th-Century American Humor (2000). She is one of the leading pioneers in humor studies, and has received a lifetime achievement award from the Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor and the International Society for Humor Studies.