Perils of Protection: Shipwrecks, Orphans, and Children's Rights

Winner of the Children’s Literature Association’s 2020 Honor Book Award

Unrecognized in the United States and resisted in many wealthy, industrialized nations, children’s rights to participation and self-determination are easily disregarded in the name of protection. In literature, the needs of children are often obscured by protectionist narratives, which redirect attention to parents by mythologizing the supposed innocence, victimization, and vulnerability of children rather than potential...