Jane Yolen

My view of Jane Yolen begins in the very early 1980s. I considered the YA genre as one I wanted to pursue in my own writing. An in-depth study of the field at that time showed me that there are crossover fields in fiction that tie the adult world and the children’s world together and these works can be called adult fiction or YA depending on the content of the story.

At the time, Jane Yolen was writing in Science Fiction and Fantasy. One of her core beliefs was that women were simply strong as women, not as carbon-copy men.

From Briar Rose to Sister Light Sister Dark and White Jenna, her characterizations of women stand out as women who were incredibly strong characters. They were the kind of women we see every day. The kind we know exist, but are rarely if ever spoken about.

Jane Yolen was a writer who came along in a time that was much more willing to look at women as actual human beings, and her work was sorely needed. She is not the first by any stretch of the imagination, but of writers working during and after a women’s movement, she is one of the working writers connecting with today’s children. I believe this is very important. Her work has the power to challenge young women to look at the realities of what they know to be true and trust them despite what they are told about themselves.

I was so interested in Yolen as a working writer I began to look very closely at more of her work. Since my favorite genre is fantasy, I will always be a fan of Owl Moon. I am not alone in that. Yolen speaks highly of this picture book as well. Over the years she has written over 200 books either alone or with others. When asked, she thinks Owl Moon is one of the best books she has ever written.

While I don’t have a fondness for fairy-tales, Yolen makes them more palatable for someone who has always wanted stories of women that feel right, that feel like the characters are women in ways that I and many others know women to exist.

Her books on fantasy and magic are most delightful to read whether they are picture books like The Witch Who Wasn’t, or the Tartan Magic series of middle grade books that includes: The Wizard’s Map as the first story in the trilogy, along with The Pictish Child, and The Bagpiper’s Ghost.

One firm belief I hold about writers is that the author is always in the text, no matter what they write. By knowing a little more about a writer, you can sometimes catch a glimpse of why a work was written, where the author was coming from, and the forces that push an individual to use their creativity to tell you how they feel about life. Jane Yolen’s life fits into her stories well. This author is definitely in her texts.

The Tartan Magic Series includes a part of Yolen’s life connected to her travels to Scotland and the stories she has found mixed in with the journey of her life. The Wizard’s Map takes a very real historical figure (Michael Scot) surrounded by some very non-historical interpretations of a man who was a warlock and supposedly wrote so magically powerful a book that when it was found it had to be locked up physically bound to a wall of a church.

Yolen’s character of Michael Scot has drawn a map of Fairburn (a made up city) and this map has some magic qualities that will affect those who live there. He lost the map and now wants it back, but the map’s caretaker has given the map to someone else. It is up to a family of children who now have the map, to figure out how they will save themselves, the city and everyone from the wickedness of this corrupt wizard.

In the second story The Pictish Child, magic is still a major player in the story. A talisman opens the door to the past, and our three heroes must change a mistake in the past in order to correct the path of the future. They meet the past in the child found in the graveyard and with her help, beat the evil magic this time by changing what went wrong in time.

The third story The Bagpiper’s Ghost highlights an interesting legend of the lady in white. Who is she? What is her story? And more important, what is her purpose? What keeps The Lady in White tied to the cemetery? Can Jennifer save Peter and still help the Lady in White? And why doesn't the piper leave?

All these questions are raised in the third book of the Tartan Magic series. The magic still exists and can perhaps be used to undo a great damage that was done in the past. This was a good story with a satisfying conclusion. All Three books in the series focus on the twins, magic, and the strange goings on in Scotland.

Jane Yolen also writes using a realistic backdrop. Her World War II story The Devil’s Arithmetic is another wonderful blending of past and present. This aspect of Yolen’s work is something I think she does very well indeed. Her lesson: We are all Heroes Here. This quote comes from an article by Yolen that includes this passage:

“My mother said before she... died... that it is much harder to live this way and to die this way than to go out shooting. Much harder. Chaya you are a hero. I am a hero. Rifka stared for a moment at the sky and the curling smoke. We are all heroes here."

Yolen concludes that this book has another lesson in it as well: that lesson of remembrance:

The Devil's Arithmetic time travel tale begins with the sentence "I'm tired of remembering" and ends with the words "I remember, I remember."

A multitude of themes run rampant throughout Yolen’s work, and all are deserving of mention. Her focus on gender is reflected in every work. Magic crops up consistently as do fairy tales. A favorite dichotomy is light / dark inner / outer, good / bad, twins. She also focuses on relationship pairings.

Here are a few biographic bits about Jane Yolen. She was born in New York City February 11, 1939. Her parents were Will and Isabelle Yolen. After High school she went on to attend Smith College. In 1962 she married David Stemple.

Professionally she has been a past president of the Science Fiction Writers of America. She has also been on the board of Directors of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators (When she isn’t teaching others how to write.

Much of Yolen's work highlights the strengths of girls and women, and tells the story of life from their perspective. Strong women continue to live on in her works.