1. Anne Marie and Joe

2.  How much time must past for a
book to be considered Historical
Fiction?
 Does the book need to be about a
Historical Event?
 Does you need to have Famous
people from History in the book?

3. A work of fiction set in a time
prior to when it was written.
Can contain historical
setting, characters, or both.
Important tool in the
classroom.

4.  Help readers connect to people and
situations from the past.
 Tend to write about U.S.
American Revolutionary
War, Slavery, Civil War, Westward
expansion, Immigration, WWII
 Many writers are historians and
war vets that have gotten into
writing.

5. Setting
Takes place in a time removed from the
reader. The writer must bring place and
time to life by providing details that are
neither romanticized nor distorted but
as authentic as possible
Plot
The writer incorporates questions into
the story that the character asks and the
story answers

6. Characters
Mostly ordinary people rather
Theme
Significant not only for the
Historical period but also themes
that are relevant today; death, civil
rights, prejudice, violence, importa
nce of family and community

7.  Early Historical fiction consisted of
adventure stories & had many
inaccuracies
 Mostly written for adults
 Sir Walter Scott is believed to be the
first person to write a work of what
we now call historical fiction

8.  1930s romanticized, highly
idealized views with an over
whelming amount of information
(Waverly; 1810; Ivanhoe; Little
House on the Prairie)
 Ornate descriptions, archaic
language, lengthy factual passages
 1940-1050s More serious works were
being written for children

9. Style:
Old—Ornate descriptions archaic
language, lengthy factual passages
New – simplistic and immediacy language that
pulls the reader into the story
Subject Matter:
Today’s historical fiction writers are writing
more about lesser known events; however
there are still not a lot of works about other
countries and cultures available to young
readers

10. Historical Fiction series
tend to be written for a
young audience and
feature female protagonist
more than male.

11. Fictionalized Memoirs:
Writers who have lived
through the bygone era in
which they write

12. Fictionalized Family History:
The passing down of family
stories from one generation to
the other

13. Fiction based on Research:
The writer has no first hand
knowledge and must perform
research to ensure its
authenticity. The bulk of
historical fiction for children
fits into this category

15.  Literature must not be expected to bear
the burden of social studies instruction.
 Literature is a fragile medium…it can be
easily crushed if forces to bear too heavy
an efferent load.
 Students will fail to enter the story world
on aesthetic terms

16.  Students develop social empathy
 A spring board for learning about the
past
 Engages students in facts from the past
that become living, breathing drama
 The extensive research that HF writers
do provides a rich source of information

17.  While textbooks & expository texts are important
sources of background information, children step
more easily into the dramatic elements of historical
fiction which brings the events of the past to light &
allows children to become part of the story thus
retaining the memory.
 Students need “historical empathy” to develop a
historical understanding…historical fiction provides
that tool.

18.  Aim for broad coverage  Focuses on a single
 Important sources of subject and examines it
background information in depth
 Many historical fiction  Allows children to
works are full of encounter the
inaccuracies and complexities of historical
idealized views of the events
past.  Describes ordinary
people catch up in major
historical events.

19.  Offers answers to students’ questions
about the world
 Helps readers develop consciousness of
how time and place influence who they
are
 Children better understand
themselves, their community, culture
and world
 The problems of today can be
understood in light of times past