Supernatural Youth in Media

Ilana Nash is an associate professor of Gender and Women’s Studies at Western Michigan University. She is the author of American Sweethearts: Teenage Girls in Twentieth-Century Popular Culture (2006) and several articles on girls’ representations in media. She serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Popular Culture.Rebecca C. Hains, Ph.D. is a professor of media and communication at Salem State University. She has authored and edited many books and articles on children’s media culture from a critical/cultural studies perspective. A 2024 Fulbright Scholar, Hains serves on The Journal of Children & Media editorial board.

• Acknowledgements – Ilana Nash/Rebecca C. Hains: Supernatural Youth in Media: The History and Meaning of a Fantastic Genre – Kyra Hunting: Growing Up in A Winx: Reworking a Children’s Text for a Teen Audience – Cory Geraths: Sex Magic: Orgasm, Embodiment, and the Erotic Navigation of "the Circumstances" in The Magicians – Ilana Nash/Jana K. Schulman: Rewriting the Past and Present: Ragnarok, Norse Myth, and Teen Heroes – Gwendelyn S. Nisbett/Newly Paul: Mystical and the Mundane in Netflix’s The Irregulars: Exploring Supernatural Narrative Engagement and Reception – Lori Bindig Yousman: Supernatural Savior or Sacrificial Lamb? The Contradictions and Cost of Young Supernatural Femininity: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina in a Post-Buffy Context – Eric M. Kennedy Jr.: Youth at the Border: Finding the Monstrous-Feminine in Marvel Comics – Erika M. Thomas: Saving Herself and Turning Rhetorical Tropes in Disney Films: Subverting the Monstrous-Feminine in Supernatural Genre Conventions – Hope L. Russell: A Zambian Fairytale: Shula and the Magic of Rungano Nyoni’s I Am Not A Witch – Asha Winfield/Meghan Sanders/Rockia Harris/Hope Hickerson/Tiffany R. Smith: Where Are All of the Black Kids?: A Contemporary Search for Black Youth in the Fantastic World – Victor Evans: Queering Teen Supernatural TV Dramas: Fandom’s Impact on LGBTQ Youth – Desirée Rowe: Welcome to the Witching Hour: The Craft as a Neuroqueer Allegory of Legibility – Notes on Contributors – Index.