ABSTRACT
Given the old shibboleth about the Golden Age of sf being not a particular era but the age of adolescence, why is there not more scholarship on young adult science fiction (YASF)? Even some novels by Ursula K. Le Guin, on whose other work there is no shortage of commentary, have received limited critical attention because they “are considered adolescent fiction first and foremost, and that isn’t a genre of interest for most of the critics who study [her]” (Cadden 2006: 428). C.W. Sullivan has suggested that it is “too risky” to research in a field whose residence in the academic gutter is guaranteed by its attention to fiction that is both juvenile (YA) and popular (sf) (Sullivan 1993b: xiv). When crossovers between the study of YA literature and sf do take place, it is often with an ignorance of the obligations and assumptions of one field or the other. Therefore, this chapter will outline for readers primarily interested in sf from the perspective of YA scholars, whose academic home is in the broader field of children’s literature. By focusing on the central tenet of YA scholarship – that any fiction called “young adult fiction” must successfully address the experiences and needs of young adult readers – this chapter will introduce some of the ways YA and sf scholarship can complement (or frustrate) each other.
