‘A Great Ghastly Mistake’?: Approaches to Teenage Pregnancy in K. M. Peyton’s Pennington’s Heir and Berlie Doherty’s Dear Nobody

Authors

  • Madelyn Travis Newcastle University, United Kingdom

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21153/pecl2008vol18no1art1178

Keywords:

teenage pregnancy, K. M. Peyton, Berlie Doherty, Heir, Dear Nobody

Abstract

Nearly two decades separate the publication of K. M. Peyton’s Pennington’s Heir (1973) and Berlie Doherty’s Dear Nobody (1991), both of which focus on the theme of teenage pregnancy. Dear Nobody won the Carnegie Medal, was shortlisted for four other book awards, and was adapted into a BBC television production and an award-winning play. By contrast, Peyton’s Pennington novels are criticised for being ‘often stereotypical in the depiction of character’ (Knowles and Malmkjaer 1996, p.142). In this paper I argue that it is Dear Nobody that is at times conservative and regressive in its treatment of its central theme, while the earlier and less well received Pennington’s Heir is the more socially progressive text.

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Author Biography

  • Madelyn Travis, Newcastle University, United Kingdom

    Madelyn Travis is Associate editor of the Journal of Children’s Literature Studies, Features editor of the Booktrust Children’s Books website and a contributor to The Horn Book magazine and The Ultimate Book Guide. She is currently researching representations of Jewishness in British children’s literature for a PhD at Newcastle University, UK.

References

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Stephens, J. (1992) Language and Ideology in Children’s Fiction. London and NY: Longman.

Townsend, J. R. (1990) Written for Children. London: The Bodley Head Children’s Books.

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Published

2008-06-01

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Articles

How to Cite

“‘A Great Ghastly Mistake’?: Approaches to Teenage Pregnancy in K. M. Peyton’s Pennington’s Heir and Berlie Doherty’s Dear Nobody ” (2008) Papers: Explorations into Children’s Literature, 18(1), pp. 13–19. doi:10.21153/pecl2008vol18no1art1178.

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