Masterplots II: Juvenile and Young Adult Fiction Series

by Frank N. Magill (Editor)

Provides information about, plot summaries of, and theme discussions for 480 titles geared toward children ages 10-18, including such works as "Animal Farm," "Go Ask Alice," "Old Yeller," and "Lord of the Flies"

4 pages, Hardcover

Published April 1, 1991

About the author

Dr. Frank Northen Magill (1907-1997) was a writer and editor of distinguished reference works for over forty years.

Magill also founded the Salem Press in 1949. Magill’s expertise became so recognizable in the hundreds of volumes of reference works published by Salem Press that librarians sometimes referred to the publications as “Magill books.”

Born in Smyrna, Ga., Magill earned an undergraduate degree at Georgia Tech and a master’s degree in engineering at Columbia University. He began working as an engineer, then served as a major in the Army Air Corps during World War II. While stationed in the Panama Canal Zone, Magill read widely and conceived of a book that he titled “Masterplots.” That was the first book to be published by Salem Press, in 1949.

Eventually the company branched into history, humanities, social science and sciences. Operating offices in New York and Los Angeles, Magill earned a doctorate and taught a popular reference course at USC.