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The Girls of Sick-Lit: Illness and Gender in Young Adult Fiction

Thesis advisor: Susan Roberts / The young adult fiction classification features a number of novels that center on the experience of chronic illness in children. This thesis examines the subgenre known as “sick-lit” and its use of illness and gender as themes. Through this study, a repetitive narrative of a beautiful teenage girl falling ill becomes clear. When examined in context, this trope can be traced through several of the most popular “sick-lit” publications. This project is comprised of four chapters, each of which focuses on a specific work, series, or author: Little Women, The Baby-Sitters Club, Lurlene McDaniel, and The Fault in Our Stars. Fleet argues that the representation of these characters is a complex narrative that does not align with the lived experience of chronically ill girlhood while still containing a degree of truth. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Departmental Honors. / Discipline: English.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:BOSTON/oai:dlib.bc.edu:bc-ir_109420
Date January 2022
CreatorsFleet, Emma
PublisherBoston College
Source SetsBoston College
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeText, thesis
Formatelectronic, application/pdf
RightsCopyright is held by the author, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise noted.

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