Description
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewLeavening scholarship with mild irony, Eaton offers a perceptive four-way study of—literally, in part—changing fashions in modern biographies for young readers. * School Library Journal, 12/1/2006 *
...Gale Eaton shows that an analysis of this neglected genre can yield intriguing results. Eaton provides close readings of numerous juvenile biographies of notable women published between the mid-1940s and the mid-1990s. * Children's Literature Association Quarterly, Vol. 31, No. 4 (Winter 2006) *
The book...offers interesting insights....A useful tool for teaches and librarians. * Bookbird: A Journal of International Children's Literature *
Eaton (library and information studies, U. of Rhode Island) examines juvenile biographies, histories, and collected biographies of women for how they have changed in their content as well as assumptions about what a female role model should be like. She begins with 34 biographies of Elizabeth Tudor that were published in England and the US from 1852 to 2002 and analyzes their accuracy, rhetoric, and absent information. By using a "snapshot" approach, 99 biographies of women in 1946, 1971, and 1996 are then studied, specifically in close readings rather than content only. The final chapters consider themes about appearance, public vs. private lives, and involvement in the community. One chapter is devoted to Pocahontas. Books were chosen if they consider the whole or partial life of a woman, and are aimed at elementary, middle, and junior high school readers. Eaton provides an annotated list of biographies by subject in each of the years studied. * Reference and Research Book News, August 2006 *
Table of ContentsPart 1 Acknowledgments Part 2 Introduction: Biographies for Girls, 1946-1996 Chapter 3 1. Rediscovering Elizabeth Chapter 4 2. 1946: Private Women and the Public Good Chapter 5 3. 1971: Public Work and Private Loss Chapter 6 4. 1996: Objectivity and the Culture Wars Chapter 7 5. Pocahontas: Four Political Fictions Chapter 8 6. Conclusion: Dressing the Role Models Part 9 Appendix A: Biographies of 1946: An Annotated List Part 10 Appendix B: Biographies of 1971: An Annotated List Part 11 Appendix C: Biographies of 1996: An Annotated List Part 12 Index Part 13 About the Author
