Reference Works, Bibliographies, Scholarly Writings

For an introduction to the historical context and critical interpretation of girls' literature, you may wish to consult these secondary sources, available in Perkins Library Stacks.

• Allen, Marjorie N. What Are Little Girls Made Of?: A Guide to Female Role Models in Children's Books. New York: Facts on file, 1999. (Perkins: 810.99282 A427 W555 1999)
• Avery, Gillian. Childhood's Pattern: A Study of Heroes and Heroines of Children's Fiction 1770-1950. London: Hodder & Soughton, 1975. (Perkins: 823.009 A954C L)
• Berg, Temma F. Anne of Green Gables: A Girl's Reading. Children's Literature Association Quarterly, vol. 9, no. 4 (Winter 1984-5) pp. 124-127.
• Cadogan, Mary and Patricia Craig. You're a Brick, Angela!: A New Look at Girls' Fiction from 1839 to 1975. London: Golancz, 1976. (Perkins: 028.5 C125Y)
• Carpenter, Humphrey. Secret Gardens: A Study of the Golden Age of Children's Literature. London: Allen & Unwin, 1985. (Perkins: 820.99282)
• Crouch, Marcus. The Nesbit Tradition: The Children's Novel 1945-1970. London: Ernest Benn, 1972. (Perkins: 823.9109 C952N)
• Dodson, Shireen. 100 Books for Girls to Grow On. New York: Harper Collins, 1998. (Perkins: 016.813 D647 O58 1998) Includes plot synopses and quizzes.
• Foster, Shirley and Judy Simons. What Katy Read: Feminist Re-readings of "Classic" Stories for Girls. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1995. (Perkins: 823 F757 W555 1995)
• Gorham, Deborah. The Victorian Girl and the Feminine Ideal. London: Croom Helm, 1982. (Perkins: 205. 920942 G 668 V 645 1982)
• Hewins, Caroline Maris. A Mid-Century Child and her Books. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1926. (Perkins: 028.5 H599M)
• Inness, Sherrie A., ed. Nancy Drew and Company : Culture, Gender, and Girls' Series. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, c1997. (Perkins: 813.5099282 N176 1997)
• Mason, Bobbie Ann. The Girl Sleuth: A Feminist Guide. Old Westbury, NY: Feminist Press, 1975. (Perkins: 813.09 M398G L)
• McGillis, Roderick. A Little Princess: Gender and Empire. New York: Twayne Publishers, c1996. (Perkins: 813.4 B964 M145 1996)
• McRobbie, Angela. Feminism and Youth Culture: From 'Jackie' to 'Just Seventeen.' London: Macmillan, 1991. (Perkins: 305.2350941 M174 F329)
• Mitchell, Sally. The New Girl: Girls' Culture in England, 1880-1915. New York: Columbia University Press, c1995. (Perkins: 820.9352042 M682 N532 1995)
• Pierce, Anna Eloise. Catalog of literature for advisers of young women and girls; an annotated list of more than two thousand titles of the most representative and useful books and periodical articles for the use of deans and other advisers of young women and girls. New York: The H. W. Wilson Company, 1923. (Perkins: 016.376 P616)
• Reynolds, Kimberly. Girls Only? Gender and Popular Children's Fiction in Britain, 1880-1910. Hemel Hempstead: Harvester Press, 1989. (Perkins: 823.8099282 R463 G525)
• Rowbotham, Judith. Good Girls Make Good Wives: Guidance for Girls in Victorian Fiction. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1989. (Perkins: 823.8 R877 G646)
• Salmon, Edward J. 'What Girls Read.' Nineteenth Century, vol. 20, no. 116 (1886), pp. 516-527.
• Saxton, Ruth O., ed. The Girl: Constructions of the Girl in Contemporary Fiction by Women. New York: Saint Martin's Press, 1998. (Perkins: 813 G525 1998)
• White, Barbara Anne. Growing Up Female : Adolescent Girlhood in American Fiction. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1985. (Perkins: 813.5 W582 G884 1985)

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