Historical Fiction

Historical fiction is…...

• Literature whose setting is in a particular historical time period and that utilizes real and/or imaginary characters.

Types of Historical Fiction

• A story that occurs before the life of the author

• Contemporary novels with the passage of time

• An author’s life chronicled in a fictional format

Types of Historical Fiction

• The protagonist travels back into history

• A story based on accurate historical accounts

• Protagonists experiencing real historical events

• A balance between fiction and reality

What Makes Good Historical Fiction?

• History should not be sugar-coated.

• Historical accuracy concerning events, places, and other facts is required

• The story must make the historical period come to life by

re-creating the physical environment, patterns of daily living, and the spirit of the times.

• The story usually reveals history through the eyes of a young protagonist.

Milestones

• 1932-1943 Little House Books

• 1954 Laura Ingalls Wilder Award

• 1981 Scott O’dell Award

Elements of Historical Fiction

• The Power of Story• Breathing Life Into the

Past• Where History

Textbooks Fall Short• Breadth and Depth

added to studies• Makes the “people”

connection• Presents History from

Multiple Perspectives

Authors to Know….

• Lois Lowry• Scott O’Dell• Elizabeth George

Speare• Mildred Taylor• Karen Cushman• Laura Ingalls Wilder• Laurence Yep

Lois Lowry

• Writes in different genres

• Number the Stars, 1990 Newbery winner

• Draws from her past in writing stories

Laura Ingalls Wilder

• “Little House Books”

• Based on her family’s experiences in the west

• Laura Ingalls Wilder Award

Scott O’Dell

• Visits the location• Wants to teach

through books• Island of the Blue

Dolphins, ’61 Newbery Medal

• Born on frontier• Scott O’dell Award

            

  

Elizabeth George Speare

• Novels based on historical incidents

• Well researched• Newberry medal

winner in ’59 (the Witch of Blackbird Pond), ’62 (The Bronze Bow), and’83 (The Sign of the Beaver.)

            

  

Karen Cushman

• Catherine Called Birdy, Newbery honor book

• Matilda Bone

• Midwive’s Apprentice, Newbery Medal

Mildred Taylor

• Based on family stories

• Struggled to write.

• Song of Trees

• Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry /76 Newbery

Laurence Yep

• Chinese American from San Francisco

• Envisions looking through a window and reporting what he saw

• Dragonwings won Newbery Honor in /75