"Off with her head!" decreed the Queen of Hearts, one of a multitude
of murderous villains populating the pages of children's literature
explored in this volume.
Given the long-standing belief that children ought to be shielded from
disturbing life events, it is surprising to see how many stories for
kids involve killing. Bloody Murder is the first full-length critical
study of this pervasive theme of murder in children's literature.
Through rereadings of well-known works, such as Alice's Adventures in
Wonderland, the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories, and The Outsiders,
Michelle Ann Abate explores how acts of homicide connect these works
with an array of previously unforeseen literary, social, political, and
cultural issues. Topics range from changes in the America criminal
justice system, the rise of forensic science, and shifting attitudes
about crime and punishment to changing cultural conceptions about the
nature of evil and the different ways that murder has been popularly
presented and socially interpreted.
Bloody Murder adds to the body of inquiry into America's ongoing
fascination with violent crime. Abate argues that when narratives for
children are considered along with other representations of homicide in
the United States, they not only provide a more accurate portrait of the
range, depth, and variety of crime literature, they also alter existing
ideas about the meaning of violence, the emotional appeal of fear, and
the cultural construction of death and dying.
