Posts Tagged Historical Nonfiction

Diversity in MG Lit #17 July 2020 Historical Fiction and Non-fiction

Historical fiction was one of my favorite genres as a MG reader and it’s one of my favorite to write now. Here is a collection of new and recent historical books. In these turbulent times I’m finding comfort in seeing the many difficult things humanity has overcome in the past.
What the Eagle Sees: Indigenous Stories of Rebellion & Renewal by Eldon Yellowhorn & Kathy Lowinger, Annik Press, 2019 This is non-fiction at its finest. Each chapter could be extended into an entire book but the authors have kept it concise and vivid with clear explanations, photographs of artifacts, frequent sidebars and maps. The collected stories of indigenous resistance to colonization and oppression is clearly and fairly portrayed. Their past and ongoing efforts at renewal and repair are inspiring. This should be required reading for every history teacher and will find a welcome place in the hearts of many history-loving students. Science teachers will also appreciate the care taken in describing how archeologist work to give evidence of historic events. This is the best non-fiction book I’ve read in a very long time!
Superman Smashes the Klan by Gene Luen Yang art by Gurihiru Here’s a rarity, a graphic novel within the realm of historical fiction. Based on a radio show from 1946, it portrays Superman standing up for a Chinese American family who has moved out of Chinatown and into a Metropolis neighborhood. It has all the action and derring do you’d expect from a comic book but it also shows Superman coming to terms with his own status as an alien. Extensive back matter chronicles the history of the KKK, the role of comics in American culture and the treatment of Asian Americans during and after WWII. The Klan is often portrayed as operating only in the south and fueled solely by racial hatred. I appreciated the setting on the west coast where white supremecist organizations have a long history. I also appreciated it when the leader of the racist organization in the story is revealed to be more interested in milking his gullible membership for money than anything—an aspect of white supremicist’s groups that is often overlooked.
Never Caught, the story of Ona Judge, George & Martha Washington’s courageous slave who dared to run away by Erica Armstrong Dunbar & Kathleen Van Cleve, Aladdin, 2019.
This is the young readers edition of the story of a slave in the George & Martha Washington household who escaped successfully and lived out her days in freedom. This is a balanced story that deals with the Washingtons as slave owners clearly without dwelling over much on violence or degradation. For example, for part of her life Ona was Martha Washington’s favorite slave and so had a room adjoining the Washington’s bedroom. The text says only that it was common for female slaves to be assaulted by their owners, without elaborating. This careful approach gives the reader the option to stop reading and ask for more context or move past the information that might be too overwhelming. There are primary source documents, a timeline, and extensive source notes.
Tooting my own horn here, like the above Never Caught, my title Last of the Name, is a finalist for the 2020 New York Historical Society History Book Prize. If you are a fan of historical fiction set in the US, this is a great place to look for solid titles year after year.
Last of the Name is about Danny and Kathleen, young orphaned Irish immigrants during the American Civil War. It encompasses the events of the Civil War Draft Riots, the most violent race riots in US history and a topic seldom addressed in either fiction or non-fiction. It also touches on the beginnings of vaudeville and the power of traditional ethnic music and dance to give an immigrant community strength and help them find each other in new surroundings.
I confess that I never wanted to be a writer when I was growing up but a career as a circus flyer held great appeal. Orphan Eleven by Jennifer Choldenko is the book my 11 year old self would have loved. It follows the adventures of four orphans who escape the worryingly named Home for Friendless Children to find work and community in a traveling tent circus. It features a character who is an elective mute and takes place in 1939.
Saving Savanah by Tanya Bolden takes a look at the turbulent year immediately after the First World War through the eyes of a young woman from the African American upper class.The story touches on class conflict within the African American community, womens’ suffrage, and the ravages of Jim Crow laws and the influenza epidemic. Eye-opening reading for older MG readers.
Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park travels the same time and territory as the well-known Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. This story follows Hanna Edmonds a Chinese American 15 year old who moves east from California with her widowed father to a small town in South Dakota. There she strives against prejudice to complete her schooling and open a dressmaking shop with her father. Period detail and a middle grade sensibility make this a perfect choice for 9-14 year old readers.

Historical Hysteria

What is it about history that makes it so intriguing? Our innate desire to understand where we came from? The challenge of figuring out how we came to be where we are today? The drama of past events and the personality of the characters involved? A drive to dig deeper into the facts of history to pull out a somewhat complete story?

All the above?

Whatever the reason, the power of history draws us in like no other area of human study. History seeps into the cracks of everything because everything has a history. The middle-grade years are not immune to the magnetic draw of history. In fact, it is probably at this age where history is most appealing.

History is more than facts and dates. It lived and breathed. Each historical event documented in a single paragraph of a textbook has been distilled, sifted, cleaned up, manipulated, and finally written from a library-sized store of viewpoints, documents, accounts, and physical artifacts. That is the beauty of history. It is alive. It is vibrant. It shifts and changes with discovery and time.

As a reader and a writer, I am crazy over history. Researching history is a rabbit hole for me. I often get lost in the deep forest of the topic and have to force myself back on the intended path, while jotting notes of interesting things found in the deep forest, of course. I do have a special place for history. Maybe it’s because I’m creatively still stuck in a middle-grade mindset. Maybe it’s because history is a nice balance to my professional life in science.

Whatever the reason, I am drawn to history, especially the American Civil War. Growing up in Kansas City, I have a particular interest in the Border War between pro-slavery Missouri and Free State Kansas. This conflict was the lit match that ignited the powder keg of the Civil War. So many little stories surround American Civil War and the wealth of information in diaries, personal accounts, newspapers, magazines, photographs, and books, provides resources. A writer’s dream.

One of the beautiful things about history in literature, besides there being a nearly infinite source of subject matter for the writer or reader, is its seamless integration into both fiction and nonfiction. A piece of history works in historical fiction as a dramatic foundation on which to build the fiction upon. The piece of history performs just as well as the central component in nonfiction, where the actual facts and occurrences are under the spotlight. Narrative nonfiction appeals to me, in particular, because it artfully weaves the facts to present them as an engaging story.

As we stand at the edge of the winter/holiday season and contemplate a “historical” reading list for those long, cold, windy nights (at least like we have here in Kansas), I’ve assembled two TBR suggested titles list of historical middle grade books. The first is a historical fiction list of middle grade books with a heavy influence of time, place, and event. The second list is historical nonfiction, many of the narrative variety. (I feel I should probably apologize for the large percentage of the nonfiction list being from Steve Sheinkin, but HIS BOOKS ARE AWESOME. It is no small wonder middle grade readers flock to his books where history not only comes alive, but jumps off the page.)

Each list consists of ten books. Each list could have easily have been 50 books. There is so much great middle grade historical fiction and nonfiction out in the world it was hard to leave fabulous books off my lists. Since there exists a finite amount of bandwidth, though, the self-imposed limit was set at ten. If you have favorite historical middle grade books to add or comments on my humble list, please leave a comment. I am always looking for more historical reads.

Ten TBR Historical Fiction Titles

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1. OKAY FOR NOW by Gary D. Schmidt
Troubled family life in 1968 New York.
2. IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF CRAZY HORSE by James M. Marshall III
A modern retracing of Crazy Horse’s life in the 1870’s by a grandfather to his grandson.
3. JASPER AND THE RIDDLE OF RILEY’S MINE by Caroline Starr Rose
The Klondike Gold Rush, 1896
4. HOW I BECAME A GHOST by Tim Tingle
Choctaw Trail of Tears, 1831
5. ONE CRAZY SUMMER by Rita Williams-Garcia
Civil Rights in Oakland, CA, 1968

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6. MOON OVER MANIFEST by Clare Vanderpool
1918 WWI & 1936 Depression in Southeast Kansas
7. HIDDEN ROOTS by Joseph Bruchac
Native identity in upstate NY in 1950 and the Vermont Eugenics Survey ~1930’s
8. BOXERS AND SAINTS by Gene Luen Yang
China’s Boxer Rebellion in 1900
9. WEDNESDAY WARS by Gary D. Schmidt
Long Island, 1967-68. Vietnam, religious identity
10. THE BIRCHBARK HOUSE by Louise Erdrich
1847 Ojibwa community in Lake Superior region

Ten TBR Historical Nonfiction Titles

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1. MARCH Graphic Novel Trilogy by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, illustrated by Nate Powell
2. THE NOTORIOUS BENEDICT ARNOLD: A TRUE STORY OF ADVENTURE, HEROISM & TREACHERY by Steve Sheinkin
3. LINCOLN’S GRAVE ROBBERS by Steve Sheinkin
4. BOMB: THE RACE TO BUILD—AND STEAL—THE WORLD’S MOST DANGEROUS WEAPON by Steve Sheinkin
5. BROWN GIRL DREAMING by Jacqueline Woodson

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6. PARROTS OVER PUERTO RICO by Susan L. Roth and Cindy Trumbore
7. UNDER SIEGE! THREE CHILDREN AT THE CIVIL WAR BATTLE FOR VICKSBURG by Andrea Warren
8. PHINEAS CAGE: A GRUESOME BUT TRUE STORY OF BRAIN SCIENCE by John Fleischman
9. TILLIE PIERCE: TEEN EYEWITNESS TO THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG by Tanya Anderson
10. UNDEFEATED: JIM THORPE AND THE CARLISLE INDIAN SCHOOL FOOTBALL TEAM by Steve Sheinkin