Chapter 10: Historical Fiction

  Teaching social studies, I have grown to love historical fiction. Before reading this chapter, though, I had not thought about the fact that any story set in the past is technically historical fiction. Since historical fiction allows readers to experience what it would be like to live in a previous time and place, what is considered historical fiction to someone my age could be different from historical fiction for youth. Some questions to ask yourself when searching for historical fiction for children are:

• Does it tell a good story that blends in history?
• Are the facts accurate of the historical period?
• How are the values of the times brought to life?
• Is everything consistent with the social environment of the time period?
• Does the theme relate to contemporary readers?

I recently discovered Alan Gratz, thanks to my school's librarian. I was able to use his books as read-alouds with my 6th-grade students this past year. His book Refugee was a perfect end-of-the-year book that wove the story of three different refugee families from 3 different countries in 3 different time periods. My students enjoyed the book and it brought about discussions about previous lessons during the year. I highly recommend his books!