The Dark Fantastic

Zusatztext

<p><b><i>Winner, 2022 Children's Literature Association Book Award, given by the Children's Literature Association</i></b><br><br><b>Winner, 2020 World Fantasy Awards</b><br><br><b><i>Winner, 2020 British Fantasy Awards, Nonfiction<br><br>Finalist, Creative Nonfiction IGNYTE Award, given by FIYACON for BIPOC+ in Speculative Fiction</i></b><br><b><br>Reveals the diversity crisis in children's and young adult media as not only a lack of representation, but a lack of imagination</b><br><br>Stories provide portals into other worlds, both real and imagined. The promise of escape draws people from all backgrounds to speculative fiction, but when people of color seek passageways into the fantastic, the doors are often barred. This problem lies not only with childrens publishing, but also with the television and film executives tasked with adapting these stories into a visual world. When characters of color do appear, they are often marginalized or subjected to violence, reinforcing for audiences that not all lives matter.<br><br><i>The Dark Fantastic</i> is an engaging and provocative exploration of race in popular youth and young adult speculative fiction. Grounded in her experiences as YA novelist, fanfiction writer, and scholar of education, Thomas considers four black girl protagonists from some of the most popular stories of the early 21st century: Bonnie Bennett from the CWs<i>The Vampire Diaries</i>, Rue from Suzanne Collinss<i> The Hunger Games</i>, Gwen from the BBCs<i>Merlin</i>, and Angelina Johnson from J.K. Rowlings<i>Harry Potter.</i> Analyzing their narratives and audience reactions to them reveals how these characters mirror the violence against black and brown people in our own world.<br><br>In response, Thomas uncovers and builds upon a tradition of fantasy and radical imagination in Black feminism and Afrofuturism to reveal new possibilities. Through fanfiction and other modes of counter-storytelling, young people of color have reinvisioned fantastic worlds that reflect their own experiences, their own lives. As Thomas powerfully asserts, we dark girls deserve more, because we are more.</p>

Autorenportrait

<b>Ebony Elizabeth Thomas</b>is Associate Professor in the Literacy, Culture, and International Educational Division at the University of Pennsylvanias Graduate School of Education. A former Detroit Public Schools teacher and National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow, she is an expert on diversity in childrens literature, youth media, and fan studies.

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