Children's fiction about 9/11

About This Book

"In this study, Lampert examines how cultural identities are constructed within fictonal texts for young people written about the attacks on the Twin Towers. It identifies three significant identity categories encoded in 9/11 books for children: ethnic identities, national identities, and heroic identities, arguing that the indentities formed within the selected children's text are in flux, privileging performances of identities that are contingent upon post-9/11 politics. Looking at examples including picture books, young adult novels, and a selection of DC Comics, Lampert finds in post 9/11 children's literature a co-mingling of xenophobia and tolerance, the binaried competition between good and evil and global harmony and national insularity, and the glorification of both the commonplace hero and the super-human. The shifting identities evident in texts that are being produced for children about 9/11 offer implicit and explicit accounts of what constitute good citizenship, loyalty to nation and community, and desirable attributes in a Western post-9/11 context. This book makes an original contribution to the field of children's literature by providing a focused and sustained analysis of how texts for children about 9/11 contribute to formations of identity in these complex times of cultural unease and global unrest." --Book Jacket.