presses have published overtly Christian SF, such as Wendy Green’s The Great
Darkness (1983). Politically correct SF has been provided by Robert Leeson’s Time Rope
quartet (1986).
Not only a stimulus for young and reluctant readers (such as Bob Wilson’s Ging Gang
Goolie, it’s an Alien (1988)) SF motifs have found their way into the picture book, often with
comic intent, for example Jeanne Willis’s Dr Xargle’s Book of Earth Tiggers (1990).
In a study of the genre in 1969, Sheila Egoff denied that there was any literature in
the genre (390); in 1981, she lamented the lack of ‘such distinguished and defining
practitioners’ as Sutcliff and Cooper (in history and fantasy) (Egoff 1981: 133).
Contemporary SF, says Peter Nicholls, resembles Victorian juveniles in its ‘ethically
intransigent and propagandist’ tendency (Clute and Nicholls 1993:216). And yet there
are very many excellent and subtle books around—often written by authors
‘moonlighting’ from other genres. There is a rich tradition in Australasia: Margaret Mahy’s
Aliens in the Family (1986), Robin Klein’s Halfway Across the Galaxy and Turn Left
(1985), Lee Harding’s Displaced Person (1979), and Caroline MacDonald’s The Lake at
the End of the World (1988) set in New Zealand in 2025 when the Earth’s surface is
almost completely polluted. Gillian Rubinstein is becoming Australia’s leading specialist
in the genre, with titles such as Space Demons (1986) (about computer games) and
Beyond the Labyrinth (1988). In the USA, the genre continues to flourish, with writers
like Annabel and Edgar Johnson, William Sleator, Pamela Sargent, Pamela Service,
Clare Bell, Jane Yolen and Lois Lowry; in Britain Gwyneth Jones and Jean Ure have
produced fine trilogies (Inland (1987–1990) and Plague 99 (1990–1994) respectively)
which add to the classic canon, while fantasy writer Terry Pratchett’s comic trilogy
about ‘nomes’, beginning with Truckers (1989) has reached a mass audience of
thousands who would not call themselves SF fans.
Thus although children’s SF could not boast a ‘quality’ writer between Verne and
Heinlein, and has had an immense influence through comics, it cannot be dismissed as
‘sub-literary’. In order to be fairly compared with other genres it should be seen to
include science fantasy, and the genre has attracted many distinguished practitioners
who have extended the range of ideas and issues that can be addressed in children’s
literature.
ReferencesClute, J. and Nicholls, P. (eds) (1993) The Encyclopaedia of Science Fiction, 2nd edn, London:
Orbit.
Donelson, K. (1978) ‘Nancy, Tom and assorted friends in the Stratemeyer syndicate then and
now’, Children’s Literature 7:17–44.
Egoff, S. (1969) ‘Science Fiction’, in Egoff, S. Stubbs, G.T. and Ashley, L.F. (eds) Only Connect,
Toronto: Oxford University Press.
——(1981) Thursday’s Child: Trends and Patterns in Contemporary Children’s Literature, Chicago:
American Library Association.
Fortune Magazine (1934/1969) ‘For it was indeed he’, in Egoff, S., Stubbs, G.T. and Ashley, L.F.
(eds) Only Connect, Toronto: Oxford University Press.
Gifford, D. (1984) The International Book of Comics, London: Hamlyn.
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