From Booklist
Gr. 7 and up. MacRae pretty well fulfills her intended purpose "to portray fantasy as a complex genre in great demand by many of the most motivated teenaged readers and to describe its subgenres clearly. . . ." Her focus is on authors currently writing in the U.S., though she harks back to the historical roots of each subgenre, carefully tracing the paths taken and the noted writers along the way. MacRae's research is very evident and fully documented, and her presentation has a scholarly flavor. Many of the plot summaries are quite detailed and laced with critical commentary, that of noted critics as well as her own and that of her teen evaluators, as she examines alternate worlds, magic realism, myth, legend, magic bestiary, and time fantasy. She includes in-depth critical analysis and interviews with four authors: Terry Brooks, Barbara Hambly, Jane Yolen, and Meredith Ann Pierce. The long recommended-reading lists and bibliographies that follow every subgenre discussion will provide teen readers and those who work with them guidance to further reading of specific kinds, and also help in tracking series titles. Appendixes list fantasy literary awards and fantasy books from "Best Books for Young Adults Lists 1970^-1997," and provide copies of surveys and questionnaires used in this study. Sally Estes
