From School Library Journal

The authors delve into the elements of juvenile and young adult science-fiction series such as "Animorphs," "Tom Swift," and "Danny Dunn." The introduction traces the history of these books and the impact that World War II and the development of rocket and atomic science had on the genre. Chapters deal with the inclusion of robots, androids, and artificial intelligence as stock conventions; animals, strange and familiar; the female presence; the role of humor; the absence or presence of scientific theory; utopias and dystopias; aliens; and coming-of-age stories. While a great deal of research and analysis has gone into this volume, the approach is more theoretical than practical. Libraries that have science-fiction clubs or readerships may want to invest in it. An annotated bibliography of series is appended, but it is descriptive rather than critical, and suggested grade levels are not given.
Debbie Feulner, Northwest Middle School, Greensboro, NC
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

“Libraires that have science fiction clubs or readerships may want to invest in it.”–School Library Journal

“This survey of juvenile science fiction series since 1945 is recommended for scholary collections with a focus on young adult science fiction. Such collections will find this an important survey which fills in many gaps in literature, providing a broad review of the history, themes, characters and settings of post-1945 series titles from Space Cat to the Magic School Bus of modern times.”–The Bookwatch

“The authors contribute to the possible creation of a canon of accepted YA texts with their by identifying other important critics of series and citing specific, well-known authors. They also have presented us with an introduction that goes into the history of series publishing and its relationship to science fiction which can be explaned with readings of F.J Molson's articles on the subject....The work is eminently readable as thumbnail sketches of the series under consideration.”–The Midwest Book Review

“Sands and Frank's book provides a useful list of works and some interesting comparisons.”–SFRA Review