Hi, Elizabeth,
I enjoyed your intro letter. I'm very interested in YA fantasy as I work
with kids at my local library and am always looking for books to recommend
to them. So far I've had good luck with the Alana books by Tamara Pierce,
about a girl who switches places with her brother--he goes off to become a
sorcerer and she to become a knight. Also, there are three books about Wren
by ???? Smith--if you need the name I can find it for you. Titles: Wren's
Rescue, Wren's Quest and Wren's War.
You must know Lloyd Alexander's Taran series. They're not exactly feminist,
althoug there are many strong female characters, but they are Celtic--or
Welsh. Does that count?
Meredith Pierce wrote a strange and affecting trilogy about a child-woman
abandoned in a land of monsters, and Jo Clayton has written several books
with young female characters, among them the Drinker of Souls trilogy--not
sure if they'd be considered YA, though. I had to mention them--I liked
them so much.
Sheri Tepper's Jinian books fascinated me, too.
I have four great cats and one cat-loving dog. I write, right now a fantasy
which may run to three or four volumes, also mysteries.
Hope to hear from you--
Regards, Marilyn
>Drawn out of lurking by the bravery of others, I'd like to introduce
>myself. Right now I'm a budding student (again; got an MA 2 years ago),
>starting Ph.D work this fall in children's literature. I'm married, with 4
>cats (my husband is also on this list--Allen Briggs). I'm also a neophyte
>computer person, mastering HTML and the creation of web pages, and planning
>on learning VRML soon.
>
>I've been a feminist since I entered college, but I recently have had
>revelations about just how subtle the oppression of women really is, even
>among those who are learned and try not to support that behavior. This
>revelation came right before I read Nicola Griffith's Ammonite, which had a
>profound effect on me (I highly recommend it). I've appreciated the
>thoughtful discussions and recommendations given on this list (I've been
>lurking since March), and they've helped me greatly in my thoughts and my
>research. I've only become entranced with fantasy and SF in the past few
>years, become a fan of Star Trek in the past 2 years, and become a fan of
>Bab5 in the past week. =->
>
>My Ph.D work will focus on Celtic mythology and YA fantasy and SF, looking
>for a more feminist alternative to the heroic quest narrative structure in
>the mythology, and how that may be incorporated in contemporary British YA
>fantasy and SF novels, depending on the author's gender. I also research
>Japanese children's books dealing with WWII and the bombings, and
>children's hypermedia and theories of children and technology. If anyone's
>interested in these topics, I'd love to discuss them off-list.
>
>Elizabeth
>
>
>--
>Elizabeth L. Pandolfo/Briggs
>pandolfo@macbsd.com
>http://www.macbsd.com/~pandolfo/index.html
>
>"Whatever happens, believe that the journey is worth taking..."
> --Peth, "Seaward"
>
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu May 25 2000 - 19:06:29 PDT