Joni Richards Bodart - They Suck, They Bite, They Eat, They Kill: The Psychological Meaning of Supernatural Monsters in Young Adult Fiction

Scarecrow Studies in Young Adult Literature

Series Editor: Patty Campbell

Scarecrow Studies in Young Adult Literature is intended to continue the body of critical writing established in Twaynes Young Adult Authors series and to expand it beyond single-author studies to explorations of genres, multicultural writing, and controversial issues in young adult (YA) reading. Many of the contributing authors of the series are among the leading scholars and critics of adolescent literature, and some are YA novelists themselves.

The series is shaped by its editor, Patty Campbell, who is a renowned authority in the field, with a forty-year background as critic, lecturer, librarian, and teacher of YA literature. Patty Campbell was the 2001 winner of the ALAN Award, given by the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of the National Council of Teachers of English for distinguished contribution to YA literature. In 1989 she was the winner of the American Library Associations Grolier Award for distinguished service to young adults and reading.

1. Whats So Scary about R. L. Stine? by Patrick Jones, 1998.

2. Ann Rinaldi: Historian and Storyteller , by Jeanne M. McGlinn, 2000.

3. Norma Fox Mazer: A Writers World , by Arthea J. S. Reed, 2000.

4. Exploding the Myths: The Truth about Teens and Reading , by Marc Aronson, 2001.

5. The Agony and the Eggplant: Daniel Pinkwaters Heroic Struggles in the Name of YA Literature , by Walter Hogan, 2001.

6. Caroline Cooney: Faith and Fiction , by Pamela Sissi Carroll, 2001.

7. Declarations of Independence: Empowered Girls in Young Adult Literature, 19902001 , by Joanne Brown and Nancy St. Clair, 2002.

8. Lost Masterworks of Young Adult Literature , by Connie S. Zitlow, 2002.

9. Beyond the Pale: New Essays for a New Era , by Marc Aronson, 2003.

10. Orson Scott Card: Writer of the Terrible Choice , by Edith S. Tyson, 2003.

11. Jacqueline Woodson: The Real Thing, by Lois Thomas Stover, 2003.

12. Virginia Euwer Wolff: Capturing the Music of Young Voices , by Suzanne Elizabeth Reid, 2003.

13. More Than a Game: Sports Literature for Young Adults , by Chris Crowe, 2004.

14. Humor in Young Adult Literature: A Time to Laugh , by Walter Hogan, 2005.

15. Life Is Tough: Guys, Growing Up, and Young Adult Literature , by Rachelle Lasky Bilz, 2004.

16. Sarah Dessen: From Burritos to Box Office , by Wendy J. Glenn, 2005.

17. American Indian Themes in Young Adult Literature , by Paulette F. Molin, 2005.

18. The Heart Has Its Reasons: Young Adult Literature with Gay/Lesbian/Queer Content, 19692004 , by Michael Cart and Christine A. Jenkins, 2006.

19. Karen Hesse , by Rosemary Oliphant-Ingham, 2005.

20. Graham Salisbury: Island Boy , by David Macinnis Gill, 2005.

21. The Distant Mirror: Reflections on Young Adult Historical Fiction , by Joanne Brown and Nancy St. Clair, 2006.

22. Sharon Creech: The Words We Choose to Say , by Mary Ann Tighe, 2006.

23. Angela Johnson: Poetic Prose , by KaaVonia Hinton, 2006.

24. David Almond: Memory and Magic , by Don Latham, 2006.

25. Aidan Chambers: Master Literary Choreographer , by Betty Greenway, 2006.

26. Passions and Pleasures: Essays and Speeches about Literature and Libraries , by Michael Cart, 2007.

27. Names and Naming in Young Adult Literature , by Alleen Pace Nilsen and Don L. F. Nilsen, 2007.

28. Janet McDonald: The Original Project Girl , by Catherine Ross-Stroud, 2008.

29. Richard Peck: The Past Is Paramount , by Donald R. Gallo and Wendy Glenn, 2008.

30. Sisters, Schoolgirls, and Sleuths: Girls Series Books in America , by Carolyn Carpan, 2009.

31. Sharon Draper: Embracing Literacy , by KaaVonia Hinton, 2009.

32. Mixed Heritage in Young Adult Literature , by Nancy Thalia Reynolds, 2009.

33. Russell Freedman , by Susan P. Bloom and Cathryn M. Mercier, 2009.

34. Animals in Young Adult Fiction , by Walter Hogan, 2009.

35. Learning Curves: Body Image and Female Sexuality in Young Adult Literature , by Beth Younger, 2009.

36. Laurie Halse Anderson: Speaking in Tongues , by Wendy J. Glenn, 2010.

37. Suzanne Fisher Staples: The Setting Is the Story , by Megan Lynn Isaac, 2010.

38. Campbells Scoop: Reflections on Young Adult Literature , by Patty Campbell, 2010.

39. Donna Jo Napoli: Writing with Passion , by Hilary S. Crew, 2010.

40. John Marsden: Darkness, Shadow, and Light , by John Noell Moore, 2011.

41. Robin McKinley: Girl Reader, Woman Writer , by Evelyn M. Perry, 2011.

42. Immigration Narratives in Young Adult Literature: Crossing Borders, by Joanne Brown, 2011.

43. They Suck, They Bite, They Eat, They Kill: The Psychological Meaning of Supernatural Monsters in Young Adult Fiction , by Joni Richards Bodart, 2012.

They Suck, They Bite, They Eat, They Kill

The Psychological Meaning of Supernatural Monsters in Young Adult Fiction

Joni Richards Bodart

Scarecrow Studies in Young Adult Literature, No. 43

The Scarecrow Press, Inc.

Lanham Toronto Plymouth, UK

2012

Published by Scarecrow Press, Inc.

A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.

4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706

http://www.scarecrowpress.com

Estover Road, Plymouth PL6 7PY, United Kingdom

Copyright 2012 by Joni Richards Bodart

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Bodart, Joni Richards.

They suck, they bite, they eat, they kill : the psychological meaning of supernatural monsters in young adult fiction / Joni Richards Bodart.

p. cm. (Scarecrow studies in young adult literature ; no. 43)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-8108-8227-0 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN 978-0-8108-8228-7 (ebook)

1. Young adult fiction, AmericanHistory and criticism. 2. Monsters in literature. 3. Supernatural in literature. I. Title.

PS374.M544B63 2012

813.08766099283dc23 2011029544

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

Printed in the United States of America

To the teens with monsters in their lives,

To the authors who create them,

To the lives who were changed by them,

And to my BFF, who suggested I get to know them better.

There is darkness inside all of us.... [W]e all have itthat part of our soul that is irreparably damaged by the very trials and tribulations of life. We are what we are because of it, or perhaps in spite of it. Some use it as a shield to hide behind, others as an excuse to do unconscionable things. But, truly, the darkness is simply a piece of the whole, neither good nor evil unless you make it so.

Jenna Maclaine, Bound by Sin (2009)