1. ELE 616 Research in Children’s Literature
Spring 2012
Science Fiction
. . . and mice???

2. What is Science Fiction?
George Hay:
“Science fiction is what you
find on the shelves in the
library marked science
fiction.”
• Definitions of Science Fiction

3. Sci-fi authors define sci-fi
Brian W. Aldiss:
• “Science fiction is the search for
definition of man and his status in the
universe which will stand in our
advanced but confused state of knowledge
(science), and is characteristically cast in
the Gothic or post-Gothic mould.”
– Trillion Year Spree: the History of Science Fiction
(London, 1986)
» Definitions of Science Fiction

4. Sci-fi authors define sci-fi
Isaac Asimov:
“Science fiction is that branch
of literature which is concerned
with the impact of scientific
advance upon human beings.”
• Isaac Asimov, in “Modern Science
Fiction”, edited by Reginald
Bretnor (1953)
» Definitions of Science
Fiction
Science Fiction

5. Sci-fi authors define sci-fi
Ray Bradbury:
“Science fiction is really
sociological studies of the
future, things that the
writer believes are going to
happen by putting two and
two together.”
» Definitions of Science
Fiction

6. Sci-fi authors define sci-fi
Frederik Pohl:
“The future depicted in a good
SF story ought to be in fact
possible, or at least plausible.
That means that the writer
should be able to convince the
reader (and himself) that the
wonders he is describing really
can come true...and that gets
tricky when you take a good,
hard look at the world around
you.”
– The Shape of Things to Come and
Why It Is Bad, SFC, December 1991
– Definitions of Science Fiction

7. Scalzi’s Three Criteria for Science Fiction
1. The Work Takes Place in the Future
--or what was the future when the work was
completed. Alternate timelines may also qualify
if they follow at least one of the other criteria.
2. The Work Uses Technology that Does Not
Currently Exist
--or (again) did not exist at the time
the work was completed.
Extrapolation from existing
technology qualifies as well.
• What is Science Fiction Anyway?
From John Scalzi’s blog

8. Scalzi’s Three Criteria for Science Fiction
3. Events Are, By and Large, Rationally
Based
I’ll quote myself here: “Though
important events, situations and
characters may in themselves be
fantastical, science fiction assumes an
explanation based on a logical universe.
This is opposed to fantasy works, and
some horror, in which such ideas are
described through magic or the whims
of the gods.”
• What is Science Fiction
Anyway? Science Fiction

9. A scifi novel by Scalzi

10. SF in education
Explore Science Fact
With Science Fiction
A unit on genetics had Sephali Ray’s students
jazzed. A seventh-grade science teacher at the
New York City Lab School, a public middle- and
high-school, Ray didn't stop with the scientific
facts. “It’s absurd for students to talk about how
DNA works without trying to understand its
implications for society,” says Ray.
• Link Science & Literacy by Meg Lundstrom

11. How this works:
Julie E. Czerneda
Good science fiction is story, science, and
speculation all wrapped up in a package custom-
made for improving literacy and critical-thinking
skills-it does not get more convenient.
Students prepare by analyzing a work of science
fiction and examining the underlying science idea in
terms of the attitude and knowledge conveyed
through the story about the author, following this
with research on the author.
• Science Fiction and Scientific Literacy, The Science
Teacher, February 2006.
Science Fiction

12. Is the Hunger Games series scifi?
Some similarities
 . . . many dystopian novels share science fiction
elements such as artificial intelligence,
hybrid species, and futuristic or even space
settings. However, dystopian literature
often breaks the form of science fiction
writing, the shared elements are only part of the
story, not integral to the function of the
storytelling.
• Dystopian Literature & Society 77

13. Another dystopian novel
Science Fiction

14. Are dystopian novels good for kids?
March 17, 2012 Science Fiction

15. March 17, 2012 Science Fiction

16. Every Sunday [now Friday!] our characters talk about
a book they’ve read in full-page full-color comic strips.
Our book clubs are posted in libraries, book stores, and
in homes, and you have our permission to do so too
(write us if you're interested in other uses).
March 17, 2012 Science Fiction

17. Source for reviews
SF Site is composed of many pieces. Twice a
month since July 1997, we have posted a mixture
of book reviews, opinion pieces, author interviews,
fiction excerpts, author and publisher reading lists
and a variety of other features. At the same time,
we've maintained a comprehensive list of links to
author and fan tribute sites, SF conventions, SF
TV and movies, magazines and e-zines, writer
resources, publishers and small press sites and
many other SF resources.
• http://www.sfsite.com/
March 17, 2012 Science Fiction

18. Another source for reviews
Welcome to sffworld.com, one of the largest
SF and Fantasy sites on the Internet today.
All run by a bunch of volunteers who invest
of their spare time to make this possible.
• About sffworld.com
March 17, 2012 Science Fiction

19. Sci-Fi Awards
Hugos
The Hugo Award was named in honor of Hugo
Gernsback, “The Father of Magazine Science
Fiction,” as he was described in a special award
given to him in 1960. The Hugo Award, also known
as the Science Fiction Achievement Award, is given
annually by the World Science Fiction Society
(WSFS). The distinguishing characteristics of the
Hugo Award are that it is sponsored by WSFS,
administered by the committee of the World
Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) held that
year, and determined by nominations from and a
popular vote of the membership of WSFS.
• What are the Hugo Awards?
March 17, 2012 Science Fiction

20. A 2011 Hugo Winner for Girls?
Girl Genius is written by Professors Phil & Kaja Foglio of TPU,
with drawings by Prof. P. Foglio.

21. Sci-Fi Awards
Nebulas
The Nebula Awards® are voted on, and presented
by, active members of the Science Fiction and
Fantasy Writers of America, Inc.
Since 1965, the Nebula Awards have been given
each year for the best novel, novella, novelette,
and short story eligible for that year's award.
• About the Award
March 17, 2012 Science Fiction

22. 2009 Andre Norton Award for Young
Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy (a
Nebula, awarded in 2010)
While The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland was
originally available here in its entirety, the final act has
been taken down in anticipation of the book being
published in May 2011 from Feiwel and Friends.

23. Sci-Fi vs. Fantasy
A personal definition:
For myself, I claim that if ScF is the literature of
change, then fantasy is the literature of longing: instead
of writing about the world as it might some day
become, it writes about the world as we wish it could be
or have been. In support of this, I point to the many
fantasy works in which undistinguished protagonists
turn out to have special and valuable powers, and to
the many more in which the boundary between good
and evil is so sharp you can cut yourself on it (and, still
more surprisingly, there are no disputes about where it
lies).
• Science Fiction versus Fantasy, part of Richard Treitel’s What is Science
Fiction? site.
Science Fiction

24. An SF author’s view
Fredrick Pohl
If anyone were to force me to make a
thumbnail description of the differences
between SF and fantasy, I think I would
say that SF looks towards an imaginary
future, while fantasy, by and large,
looks towards an imaginary past. Both
can be entertaining. Both can possibly
be, perhaps sometimes actually are,
even inspiring. But as we can't change
the past, and can't avoid changing the
future, only one of them can be real.
– Pohlemic, SFC, May 1992
» Definitions of Science Fiction
March 17, 2012 Science Fiction

25. Star Wars: Fantasy or Sci-Fi?
 Star Wars could be considered both science fantasy
and standard science fiction
A definition, offered by Rod Serling, is that “science
fiction makes the implausible possible, while science
fantasy makes the impossible plausible.” The meaning
is that science fiction describes unlikely things that
could possibly take place in the real world under
certain conditions, while science fantasy gives a veneer
of realism to things that simply could not happen in
the real world under any circumstances. Another
interpretation is that science fiction does not permit
the existence of supernatural elements; science fantasy
does.
• Wikipedia (an article that “has multiple issues” and “needs
attention from an expert on the subject”)
March 17, 2012 Science Fiction

26. Mice in Science Fiction?
More science fantasy, perhaps?
About Missile Mouse:
Missile Mouse is a gruff, tough Galactic Security Agent
who always accomplishes his mission, no matter what.
You can follow his adventures in his own graphic novel
series published by Scholastic imprint Graphix.
It is written and illustrated by Jake Parker.

27. Another mouse scifi, with a twist!
Of Mice and Aliens: An Asperger
Adventure
by Kathy Hoopmann 2001
The sequel to the recently published Blue
Bottle Mystery, this is a science fiction novel
for children aged 8-13, with a difference.
Ben is learning to cope with his newly
diagnosed Asperger Syndrome, but when an
alien, Spick, crash-lands in his back yard,
things really get complicated. Spick knows
nothing about Earth's rules and norms, and
it is up to Ben and his friend Andy to help
him survive.

28. March 17, 2012 Science Fiction