Lauren Rizzuto

Lauren Rizzuto is an Adjunct Professor at Simmons University, where she teaches courses in Children's Literature, including Folk and Fairy Tales and Fantasy and Science Fiction for Children and Young Adults. She holds an M.A. in Children's Literature from Simmons (2011) and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in English at Tufts University. Her teaching emphasizes the historical evolution of children's literature and critical engagement with genre boundaries.

Education

• M.A. in Children's Literature from Simmons University (2011)
• Ph.D. in English (in progress) at Tufts University

Research Interests center on 19th-century literature, sentimentality, and its intersections with literacy and childhood. Her work explores how texts like Louisa May Alcott's Little Women navigate sentimental conventions and artistic coming-of-age narratives.

Publications include a 2015 article analyzing fan fiction's reinterpretation of Little Women, highlighting reader dissatisfaction with traditional resolutions in children's literature.

Professional Activities include working as a bookseller at The Children's Book Shop in Brookline, Massachusetts, and reviewing books for the Horn Book Guide.