Historical Fiction: Alive and Well!

Historical fiction is a wonderful way to introduce a child to history. Quite often historical fiction features a child protagonist who finds him or herself in a extraordinary situation, which they must rely on their own resources to manage. Good historical fiction has characters who are believable and, more important, who can articulate the thoughts and feelings of the children who are reading about them.

With so much good historical fiction out there today, it's hard to select just a few. But here are some titles sure to capture a child's imagination. Some are old, some are new; all are worth reading.

Marguerite de Angeli's The Door In The Wall, a 1950 Newbery Award winner, continues to captivate young readers. The tale of Robin, crippled by the plague, and his journey to Oxford to meet the king is filled with marvelous descriptions of fourteenth-century English life from the very rich to the common folk. Accompanied by his tutor, Brother Luke, Brother Mathew, and John-go-in-the-Wynd, young Robin, once bound for glory as a future knight, learns there is more to life than fighting wars, riding horses, and donning suits of armor. The Door in the Wall is an engaging story offering lessons still valuable today. (Grades 4+)

What would have happened if someone had stolen the manuscript of one of Shakespeare's greatest masterpieces, Hamlet? That's the premise of Gary Blackwood's tale The Shakespeare Stealer. Widge, a young orphan who has been blessed (or cursed) with the ability to write a unique coded shorthand, has been sent to infiltrate Shakespeare's Globe Theater by his master, a rival theater owner. His assignment is to "steal Shakespeare's play Hamlet . . . or else." Widge eventually works his way into the backstage life of the Globe. In the process, he finds for the first time a place where he belongs and the companionship of new friends. Despite his new life, will Widge, in the end, steal the play? Blackwood's tale, full of suspenseful twists and turns, brims with energy. For those kids hesitant to learn about Shakespeare, this is a wonderful way to slip him in through the back door. (Grades 6+)

The experiences of two young boys during the World Wars are presented in two stories by Michael Foreman and James Stevenson. In War Game, Foreman introduces a young Englishman, Will, and his friends Lacey, Billy, and Freddy. The year is 1914 and England has gone to war against Germany. For the four boys, earning a spot on the national soccer team has been a life-long dream. But serving their country is too important a responsibility to ignore. Soon instead of kicking soccer balls, the four boys are dodging bullets and rats in the trenches of France. On Christmas Day, however, hostilities are suspended as Billy and his friends enjoy a rousing game of soccer against the enemy. Based on a true story, War Game is, by turns, rousing and poignant. Foreman's beautifully muted watercolor illustrations are juxtaposed with actual ads, pictures, and letters of the period. This quiet, little book powerfully conveys the horrors and contradictions of the First World War. (Grades 4+)

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