AustLit logo

AustLit

y separately published work icon Goddess of Cool single work   novel   young adult  
Issue Details: First known date: 1996... 1996 Goddess of Cool
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'May Kim can never lose face. She and her friends, the Bimbettes, are the most in-your-face clique of the school. Yet, when her icy wit backfires on her and she is forced to play fairy godmother to the biggest loser in the school, her control begins to slip. Memories of another time and place; images of her once-loved grandmother; reminders of the cool perfection of the goddess Kuan Yin; all return to haunt her until she must discover for herself who the Goddess of Cool really is.'
(Source: Author's website)

Notes

  • Also available in sound recording format.

Affiliation Notes

  • This work is affiliated with the AustLit subset Asian-Australian Children's Literature and Publishing because it contains Chinese characters.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Dingley, Mentone - Seaford area, Melbourne South East, Melbourne, Victoria,: Mammoth , 1996 .
      Extent: 150p.
      ISBN: 1863307575 (pbk.)

Works about this Work

Constructions of Female Selves in Adolescent Fiction: Makeovers as Metonym John Stephens , 1999 single work criticism
— Appears in: Papers : Explorations into Children's Literature , April vol. 9 no. 1 1999; (p. 5-13)

In this article, Stephens examines the makeover as a 'specialized form of feminine discourse' (5) by looking at how it is represented in adolescent fictions. Stephens' comparative approach discusses several novels by Australian authors of children's literature in conjunction with discourses from popular culture and explores the links between teenage magazines and adolescent fiction. He uses Judith Butler's concept of gender performativity to highlight the dialogic relationship between identity as 'performance' and identity as 'expression' (5) pointing out that the former is often equated with nihilism, while (neo)humanist conceptualisations of the subject usually privilege 'expression' in narratives of adolescent identity formation: 'By realizing the physical or exterior body...the makeover metonymically expresses a character's unfolding inferiority...But when the fictions represent a character whose subjectivity is 'merely' performative...that character is apt to be radically alienated and possibly tragic' (5). For Stephens, the implicit function of makeover narratives is either transformative or cautionary based upon the notion that the 'transformed body' acts semiotically as a 'metonym of growth' (6). Stephens conludes that makeover narratives in teenage adolescent fiction for girls generally adhere to the dominant humanist paradigm of subjectivity in which 'self identity is defined by how an individual is valued by others' (5) and as the 'expression of a substantial self' which acts as a stable and innate ground for choice and agency' (12)

God's One Country : The Description of Asians by Australian Children's Authors Stella Lees , 1997 single work criticism
— Appears in: La Trobe Library Journal , Spring no. 60 1997; (p. 62-73)
'This paper will examine some of the representations made of Asian characters in Australian children's literature, with particular reference to the image of Chinese, who are the Asian people most frequently alluded before World War I and who have continued to be present in more recent writing' (62).
Untitled Anne Briggs , 1996 single work review
— Appears in: Magpies : Talking About Books for Children , July vol. 11 no. 3 1996; (p. 34)

— Review of Goddess of Cool Carol Jones , 1996 single work novel
Untitled Stella Lees , 1996 single work review
— Appears in: Viewpoint : On Books for Young Adults , Spring vol. 4 no. 3 1996; (p. 36)

— Review of Goddess of Cool Carol Jones , 1996 single work novel
Serial Fictions Katharine England , 1996 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , June no. 181 1996; (p. 60-61)

— Review of Checkers John Marsden , 1996 single work novel ; West End Shuffle Natalie Jane Prior , 1996 single work novel ; Goddess of Cool Carol Jones , 1996 single work novel
Untitled Anne Briggs , 1996 single work review
— Appears in: Magpies : Talking About Books for Children , July vol. 11 no. 3 1996; (p. 34)

— Review of Goddess of Cool Carol Jones , 1996 single work novel
Serial Fictions Katharine England , 1996 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , June no. 181 1996; (p. 60-61)

— Review of Checkers John Marsden , 1996 single work novel ; West End Shuffle Natalie Jane Prior , 1996 single work novel ; Goddess of Cool Carol Jones , 1996 single work novel
Untitled Stella Lees , 1996 single work review
— Appears in: Viewpoint : On Books for Young Adults , Spring vol. 4 no. 3 1996; (p. 36)

— Review of Goddess of Cool Carol Jones , 1996 single work novel
God's One Country : The Description of Asians by Australian Children's Authors Stella Lees , 1997 single work criticism
— Appears in: La Trobe Library Journal , Spring no. 60 1997; (p. 62-73)
'This paper will examine some of the representations made of Asian characters in Australian children's literature, with particular reference to the image of Chinese, who are the Asian people most frequently alluded before World War I and who have continued to be present in more recent writing' (62).
Constructions of Female Selves in Adolescent Fiction: Makeovers as Metonym John Stephens , 1999 single work criticism
— Appears in: Papers : Explorations into Children's Literature , April vol. 9 no. 1 1999; (p. 5-13)

In this article, Stephens examines the makeover as a 'specialized form of feminine discourse' (5) by looking at how it is represented in adolescent fictions. Stephens' comparative approach discusses several novels by Australian authors of children's literature in conjunction with discourses from popular culture and explores the links between teenage magazines and adolescent fiction. He uses Judith Butler's concept of gender performativity to highlight the dialogic relationship between identity as 'performance' and identity as 'expression' (5) pointing out that the former is often equated with nihilism, while (neo)humanist conceptualisations of the subject usually privilege 'expression' in narratives of adolescent identity formation: 'By realizing the physical or exterior body...the makeover metonymically expresses a character's unfolding inferiority...But when the fictions represent a character whose subjectivity is 'merely' performative...that character is apt to be radically alienated and possibly tragic' (5). For Stephens, the implicit function of makeover narratives is either transformative or cautionary based upon the notion that the 'transformed body' acts semiotically as a 'metonym of growth' (6). Stephens conludes that makeover narratives in teenage adolescent fiction for girls generally adhere to the dominant humanist paradigm of subjectivity in which 'self identity is defined by how an individual is valued by others' (5) and as the 'expression of a substantial self' which acts as a stable and innate ground for choice and agency' (12)

Last amended 15 Jan 2013 14:55:54
X