Historical Fiction

Genre Study:

Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the action and the setting of the text is sometime in the past. The setting is drawn from history and often contains real historical people and settings. Although the plot and characters of the text are fictional, they are realistic characters that could actually exist in the real world. The importance of historical fiction texts is that they often portray the manners and social conditions of the people and setting of the historical contexts that are presented in the story. The authors pay particular attention to the details of the period of history in which the text is presented. Some literary experts expect that historical fiction texts be written at least fifty years after the events that are described in the text. The plots of historical fiction novels usually have major historical events taking place mostly off-stage while the fictional characters take part in realistic yet fictional events on-stage. When selecting texts in the historical fiction genre it is important to consider that they texts include several plot components that incorporate real historical information so that students can make connections from the literacy instruction to their social studies instruction and other content area instruction. Historical fiction texts are a great way to get students to read literature that can be incorporated through multiple content areas in the classroom.

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Selected Titles:

Williams-Garcia, R. (2010). One crazy summer. New York: Amistad.

            This text is a quality historical fiction text for students in grades 4-7 and the ages of 8-12. When students read this book they will understand how people lived in Oakland during the 1960s and how the Black Panther social group impacted the society of the United States in the late 1960s. As students read this book, they will learn about real historical figures like Huey Newton, Martin Luther King, Jr., Cassius Clay, Bobby Hutton, and Malcom X as well as historical events and facts about the Black Panthers, the Vietnam war, civil rights, and the protests of the 1960s. This text is good for students between the ages of 8 and 12 because the main characters of the text are school-aged children between the ages of about 5 and 13 who participate in activities that most children can relate to. Students will have a chance to empathize with other children who have divorced or single parents because the characters live with their father and grandmother in Brooklyn, New York but they go to visit their mother in Oakland, California. I would recommend this book to any elementary teacher, students in the grades 4, 5, 6, or 7 and anybody who wants to read a good story that involves historical scenes from the Black Panther movement of the 1960s. Before or during reading this text, students will need to gain some background knowledge or background information about what was happening in the world and the United States during the 1960s to avoid misconceptions or confusions.

MacLachlan, P. (1985). Sarah, plain and tall. New York: Harper & Row.

This text is appropriate for grade levels of 1^st grade to 5^th grade and it has a Lexile level of 560L. This book will help readers understand what life was like in the late 19th century living on a farm somewhere on the prairie. The book is told from the perspective of a young girl whose mother died after giving birth to her younger brother and whose father is a farmer. Readers will connect with the text because it is told from the perspective of a child so they will be able to picture living during that time and in that setting. Students will need some background knowledge about the late 1800s and what the Midwestern United States looked like during that time to be able to better understand some concepts of the text. I would recommend this text to anyone who has already read some books about the prairie life such as Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie and other young readers who are just beginning to read chapter books because it is a shorter chapter book that is good for beginning readers.