Isaac’s book, titled Suzanne Fisher Staples: The Setting is the Story, analyzes the work of a prominent young adult author recognized for her fiction about coming of age in modern Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, and the United States. Staples’ award winning and elegant prose draws readers into lives and cultures that are outside the spectrum of ideas typically explored in young adult literature. Her work opens up questions about gender, religion, culture, and identity at the same time as it raises complicated problems about the benefits and limitations any writer faces in writing cross-culturally.
As the newest volume in Scarecrow Press’s acclaimed series in Young Adult Literature, Isaac’s book is central in helping shift scholarship in the field from a focus on genre and local concerns to wider issues about global problems and international awareness. Her work on this text included research into different varieties of Muslim practices, rural Afghan life, classic Indian dance training, and interviews over several years with Suzanne Fisher Staples.
Isaac, Megan Lynn. Suzanne Fisher Staples: The Setting Is the Story. New York: Scarecrow Press, Inc. 2010.