Historical Fiction

1. Historical Fiction Fiction stories that make history come to life!

2. Historical Fiction…. • Some characters may be real and others may be fictional. • The story takes place during a period in history. • Real events from history are mixed with fictional events. • Characters may speak in a way that represents the time period.

3. This is the classic adventure story of kidnap, shipwreck, murder and pursuit as young David Balfour tries to claim the inheritance he has been cheated out of.

4. This is the story of Karana, an Indian girl who lived alone for years on the Island of the Blue Dolphins. Year after year, she watched one season pass into another and waited for a ship to take her away. But while she waited, she kept herself alive by building a shelter, making weapons, finding food, and fighting her enemies, the wild dogs. It is not only an unusual adventure of survival, but also a tale of natural beauty and personal discovery.

5. In a series of poems, fifteen-year-old Billie Jo relates the hardships of living on her family's wheat farm in Oklahoma during the dust bowl years of the Depression.

6. This is the story of a young Mexican girl in the 1930’s who goes from riches to rags. Her step uncles set fire to Esperanza's home and also to their grape vines. Her father had just died and now Esperanza, her mother, and three of their servants leave Mexico and head for the fields of California. Can they survive? It it and find out!

7. History Trivia… When did the “Great Depression” take place – the 1930’s, the 1860’s, the 1890’s or the 1960’s? The 1930’s

9. Dear America Series… A fictional journal kept by twelve-year-old Augustus Pelletier, the youngest member of Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery.

10. Dear America Series…

11. Tim Meeker's older brother, Sam, comes home from college to announce he has joined the Patriots to fight the British.  Their father is loyal to the king, along with most of the community. Sam leaves then for the war, even though his father is against it.  Tim continues his work, through the years of war, at the family's tavern but struggles with deciding what people are on what side and which side is right.  Tim's hardest struggles come when war affects his life, and he sees both sides take the life of many.

12. History Trivia… Who is traditionally known as the “Father of the United States Constitution” – Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison or John Hancock? James Madison

13. A young Jewish rebel is filled with hatred for the Romans and a desire to avenge his parents' deaths, until Jesus teaches him love and understanding of others.

14. In 1943, during the German occupation of Denmark, ten-year-old Annemarie learns how to be brave and courageous when she helps shelter her Jewish friend from the Nazis.

15. History Trivia… The “Battle of Normandy” took place during what war – Vietnam War, Korean War, World War I or World War II? World War II – Started June 6, 1944 and continued for the next two months – over 400,000 soldiers were killed or wounded.

16. Tree-ear is an orphan boy in a 12th-century Korean potters' village. When he accidentally breaks a pot, he must work for the master to pay for the damage by setting off on a difficult and dangerous journey that will change his life forever.

17. The ordinary interactions and everyday routines of the Watsons, an African-American family living in Flint, Michigan, are drastically changed after they go to visit Grandma in Alabama in the summer of 1963.

18. History Trivia… Who gave the “I have a Dream” speech? Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963

19. In 1687 in Connecticut, Kit Tyler, feeling out of place in the Puritan household of her aunt, befriends an old woman considered a witch by the community and suddenly finds herself standing trial for witchcraft.

20. Set in the rough wilderness of early frontier Texas, Old Yeller is the timeless tale of a boy left in charge of his family's farm, and the big yellow dog who helps him with his many responsibilities.

21. History Trivia… Which U.S. President said “the only thing we have to fear is, fear itself” – John Kennedy, Franklin Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln or Ronald Reagan? Franklin Roosevelt

22. Left alone to guard the family's wilderness home in eighteenth-century Maine, a boy is hard-pressed to survive until local Indians teach him their skills.

23. Told in the voices of eleven characters, about two young girls, one Jewish and the other African-American, who come to the attention of the newly formed Ku Klux Klan in a small Vermont town in 1924.

24. When their father invites a mail-order bride to come live with them in their prairie home, Caleb and Anna are captivated by their new mother and hope that she will stay.

25. Refresher Questions… • What makes historical fiction different from other types of fiction? • True or False – Some characters in historical fiction may be real and other characters may be fictional.

26. For more information… • Visit our online library catalog. • Visit Literacy Links on our web page.