Historical Fiction

Historical Fiction-Ch. 9 

What is historical fiction?

Historical fiction is any story set in the past.  It must also be a well-written story that YA readers can relate or connect to the theme.  

Why read historical fiction?

It allows readers to experiences historical events, places, and people from the part vicariously.

Things to note:

1. Most people tend to define historical fiction as any event that happened before they were born.
2. Remember the age of your reader when choosing historical fiction stories. Younger children may think that events that happened last week or last year are history.  

Criteria to consider:

1. Does the story embed historical events or information effortlessly into the story?

2. Are the historical facts accurate?

3. Are the values or morals of the time period accurate?

4. Are the clothing, music, speech patterns, social interaction, food, and trends accurate for the time period?

5. Are today's readers able to relate to the theme of the story?  

Ways to select historical fiction for YA readers:

1. Use reviews to evaluate the historical data, such as the Council on Books for Children.

2.  The National Council on Social Studies has an annual list of Notable Trade Books in the Social Sciences.

3. The Scott O'Dell awards authors on historical fiction books.

Note: The Scott O'Dell award must be written in English by a U.S. citizen with a setting in Canada, the U.S., Latin or South America, as well as published by a U.S. publisher.  

It is important for librarians and teacher to be aware of well-written historical fiction for YA readers.  These books can enhance the curriculum, as well as being read for enjoyment.