From the category archives:

History for Young Adults

Historical Books in the Classroom

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By Melissa L.
Over the past twenty years or so, history and historical fiction books have been used more and more as part of the school curriculum. In many of the books I’ve reviewed lately, I’ve noticed an abundance of features that are clearly intended to make the titles classroom-friendly. Bibliographies or “further reading” sections give [...]

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What Is it with Wars?: Overrepresented Areas in Historical Fiction

By Melissa L.
While many areas are underrepresented in historical fiction, there are also some that are way overrepresented. That’s not to say that books about these topics don’t need to be on the market, but they take up an incredibly large share.
In historical fiction about the United States, the overrepresented areas can be expressed in [...]

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Periods and Places: Not All Created Equal

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By Melissa L.
When a fellow children’s author asked for a book set in ancient Rome and no one could recommend anything suitable, I began to think about periods and places that are underrepresented in historical fiction for kids. A few that immediately come to mind include:

Ancient Rome, Greece, and Persia. (Especially Persia. I don’t think [...]

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The Snipers of Stalingrad

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Filling in the Gaps

By Melissa L.
History can be ambiguous. Sometimes there are multiple versions of the same event, and sometimes the details we most want to know have been lost. Fortunately, as a historical fiction writer, you can use this ambiguity to your advantage. As long as your book is labeled fiction, young readers will understand that it [...]

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The Painting Behind the Story

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2009: A Great Year for History and Historical Fiction

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