"I Can Tell You Have 'Special Understanding'": Young Science Fiction Readers and Alexander Key's The Forgotten Door.

FORGOTTEN Door, The (Book); KEY, Alexander; CHILDREN'S literature; KINSHIP; DISCRIMINATION (Sociology); ANIMAL welfare; CHILDREN; PRIMARY education

Despite the influence of Alexander Key's novels on children's culture of the sixties and seventies, his work as a science fiction writer has not been widely considered by children's literature scholars. This study moves beyond ideological and structural examinations of children's SF to analyze the responses of real child readers to Key's novel, The Forgotten Door. Utilizing children's letters housed at the de Grummond Children's Literature Collection alongside reviews from adult readers posted on Amazon, it traces how the novel encourages readers to think more critically about issues such as discrimination, violence, animal welfare, and their own behavior. At the same time, it shows how children understand the book as speaking to their own experiences and concerns and the sense of kinship they share with Key. Their responses demonstrate how science fiction novels like The Forgotten Door can serve as a point of connection between adults and child readers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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