The Inter-Galactic Playground: A Critical Study of Children's and Teens' Science Fiction

Critical Explorations in Science Fiction and Fantasy #14

by Farah Mendlesohn, Donald E. Palumbo (Editor), C.W. Sullivan III (Editor)

Science fiction is often considered the genre of ideas and imagination, which would seem to make it ideal for juveniles and young adults; however, the ideas are often dispensed by adults. This book considers the development of science fiction for children and teens between 1950 and 2010, exploring why it differs from science fiction aimed at adults. In a broader sense, this critical examination of 400 texts sheds light on changing attitudes toward children and teenagers, toward science education, and toward the authors' expectations and sociological views of their audience.

Genres: Nonfiction, Literary Criticism, Reference, Childrens

283 pages, Paperback

First published May 13, 2009

About the author

Farah Mendlesohn is a Hugo Award-winning British academic and writer on science fiction. In 2005 she won the Hugo Award for Best Related Book for The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction, which she edited with Edward James.

Mendlesohn is Professor of Literary History at Anglia Ruskin University, where she is also Head of English and Media. She writes on Science Fiction, Fantasy, Children's Literature and Historical Fiction. She received her D.Phil. in History from the University of York in 1997.

Her book Rhetorics of Fantasy won the BSFA award for best non-fiction book in 2009; the book was also nominated for both Hugo and World Fantasy Awards.

In 2010 she was twice nominated for Hugo Awards in the Best Related Books category.

She was the editor of Foundation - The International Review of Science Fiction from 2002 to 2007. She formerly was Reviews Editor of Quaker Studies.

Reviews

[Caleb · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is, by and large, an excellent unpacking of children's/YA science fiction, from the perspective of an academic SF scholar wondering why children's/YA SF doesn't lead its readers to adult SF. Most of Mendlesohn's critiques on attitudes surrounding children's/YA literature are fairly well-grounded, particularly those relating to the primacy of "theme"/subject matter and the complicated matter of gender portrayals in the literature.

I do question several of her points, though: she praises Heinlein's "career novels" early on, and describes them as effectively socializing the reader into the working world. Given that part of her point is to encourage younger readers to move to adult SF and adopt a more science-positive worldview, she appears to mostly want to change the form of socialization in children's/YA SF, rather than challenge the need for it entirely; further, the sorts of socialization she pushes for may ultimately be more conservative in nature than the ones she resists. She also insists on the benefits of didacticism in literature, although I suspect she refers more to "explaining how science works" and teaching a love of learning than in saying "this is Proper Morality, follow it or suffer".

She also partakes of the old "science fiction is about the external world, mainstream fiction is about the internal world" dichotomy, and while she is correct in that children's/YA SF is lacking in focus on the external world, part of the reason it is currently succeeding--and adult SF, by contrast, floundering--is because of that internal focus. Ultimately, if the problems of children's, YA, and adult SF are to be resolved, there needs to be a better balance within individual works of the external and internal focus; perhaps because of her focus (and her stated irritation at the reams of deplorable titles she had to read for research for this book), Mendlesohn misses that part of the blame lies in the worldview from which adult SF is constructed.

The book is a bit dated, despite its 2010 publication date; there's no discussion of The Hunger Games and the hordes of pseudo-dystopian novels spawned in its wake (a quote late in the book from one of her students that children want "more of the same until introduced to something different in which case they want more of that" comes to mind here), and I would very much like to see her tackle Patrick Ness's Chaos Walking series.

[Candy Wood]

Considering science fiction written for children and teens from the 1950s into the 21st century, Mendlesohn’s book is useful and entertaining. Many surveys of children’s and YA fiction have been dismissive of sf for children, recommending that young readers go straight to books intended for adults, and while Mendlesohn agrees, she still highlights many titles from each decade. They may not meet all of her criteria for good sf, but she makes clear what each has to offer. She is especially concerned about the need for books that will encourage young readers to keep reading sf, which is unlikely to happen if, as she demonstrates, the themes and structures emphasized differ widely from those of adult sf. The chapter on genre raises the question “Why is sf for children so socially conservative?” and offers some admirable exceptions. Philip Reeve, whose Mortal Engines (2001) marks the beginning of a “renaissance” (41 of the 70 books her last chapter offers as “best practices” examples date from 2001 on), is mentioned often. Recommended for anyone interested in children’s or YA literature or in science fiction.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mendlesohn's personal taste and literary pet peeves frequently bled through a largely cogent analysis of science fiction for the children's and young adult market. It's a pretty decent source of titles to investigate, though her frequent references to her "collection" and blog and repeated discussion of about 10 core "best" texts made me wonder if it was truly comprehensive.

[Norman Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

An academic analysis of SF for youngsters that covers a broad spectrum of topics, although it leaves out some potentially crucial information such as methodical analyses of authors’ bibliographies, editors’ preferences, and library statistics on youth readership habits. Mendlesohn presents intriguing questions that should spark debate.

[Michele · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gave up about half way through; interesting albeit dense reading on origins/problems of SF for young readers.