Carolyn Carpan, director of public services in the Burke Library, recently penned a history of girls' series books titled Sister, Schoolgirls, and Sleuths: Girls' Series Books in America, published by The Scarecrow Press. The book is the first study of American girls' series books to examine the entire genre from its beginning in the 1840s to present day, including Nancy Drew, The Baby-Sitters Club and Sweet Valley High.
Carpan examines popular series, subgenres, themes and characters found in approximately 100 series, noting how teenage girls are portrayed in girls' series fiction and how girls' series reflect or subvert the culture of the era in which they are produced. Her study also focuses on the creation, writing, and production of such books.
Carpan is also the author of Rocked by Romance: A Guide to Teen Romance Fiction (2004) and Jane Yolen (2005).
-- by Molly Kane '09
Carpan examines popular series, subgenres, themes and characters found in approximately 100 series, noting how teenage girls are portrayed in girls' series fiction and how girls' series reflect or subvert the culture of the era in which they are produced. Her study also focuses on the creation, writing, and production of such books.
Carpan is also the author of Rocked by Romance: A Guide to Teen Romance Fiction (2004) and Jane Yolen (2005).
-- by Molly Kane '09
