Two authors spring immediately to mind: Robert Cormier and
Michael Cadnum. But both write what might be termed Young
Adult rather than Children's literature.
Cormier's After the First Death is a masterpiece -- most list
where you encounter this author cite I Am the Cheese, and The
Chocolate War. All are excellent.
Cadnum's YA work is less known. I have only one in my
personal collection -- Calling Home -- and I'm not sure it
qualifies for the HB category.
Best regards,
... Reed
> The recent thread on cross-genre noir/hb (science
fiction and fantasy)
> got me to thinkin... What would the cross-genre
examples be for other
> genres?
>
> How about children's literature? I could only think
of one example, and
> that one is obscure: Julia Cunningham's _Dorp Dead_
(yes, that's how
> it's spelled), about an orphan who comes under the
sway of a rather
> sinister guardian. There must be other examples
(more 'popular' ones
> than _Dorp Dead_), but I'm at a loss.
>
> Of course, most fairy tales in general (and the
brothers Grimm in
> particular) are very dark, as are most of Roald
Dahl's books. For
> example, consider _The Witches_, which was made into
a very good movie
> with Anjelica Huston as the Grand High Witch. At the
story's end, the
> boy (who remains a mouse--no reprieve, as in the
movie) and his
> grandmother make plans for the genocide of witches
everywhere (this was
> dropped for the movie). In _James and the Giant
Peach_, James' evil
> aunts are crushed to death by the peach (again, this
gets watered down
> in the movie)... but the story becomes too
lighthearted after that.
>
> Oh! I thought of another good one: _There's a Hair
in my Dirt_, by
> Gary Larson. (The cartoonist.) If you can find a
copy of this gem, buy
> it!
>
> Doug Hoffman
>
> (always looking for suitable reading material for my
very dark
> 6-year-old)
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