Historical fiction

I have begun a six-week study of book genres with fourth and fifth graders, as fourth graders are supposed to become familiar with various genres and fifth graders are supposed to be able to compare and contrast them. This week we are studying historical fiction, which is one of my favorites if not my favorite genre. A book is considered a work of historical fiction if it is set at least 20 years prior to the publication date. Students have selected such books as the Magic Treehouse series as historical fiction, and I have to distinguish between such books which begin in the present time with characters magically transported to the past (fantasy) and books set entirely in the past (historical fiction).

Below are some of my favorite historical fiction titles:

1. Night Boat to Freedom by Margot Theiss Raven.

Raven read hundreds of narratives from the Slave Narratives Project in the Library if Congress' American Memory Collection before coming up with the idea for the characters of Christmas John, who helped slaves escape across the Ohio River to freedom, and Granny Judith, who raised him. Granny Judith had been lured from her African village as a child by slave traders carrying a beautiful red cloth, and Granny Judith with her love for color still kept herself busy at her dye pot. "What color is freedom tonight, Christmas John?" She'd ask. When the danger of getting caught increases, Christmas John has to make a decision about freeing himself, and taking Granny Judith with him. It is a heart-wrenching scene when he reminds her of what she told him years ago, "What scares the head is best done with the heart," and she reminds him that "Love don't stop at a river, and no river is wide enough to keep us apart."

2. The Rock and the River by Kekla Magoon.

A story if two brothers during the Civil Rights era, one who followed the philosophy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as their father did, and one who grew impatient with nonviolent protests and chose the way of Malcolm X. Both sides are presented with merits and flaws, and the ending is sad and poignant.

3. Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis.

The story of a Depression-era orphan who travels from Flint, MI to Grand Rapids to look for the man he believes to be his father. Along the way he encounters a family who pretends he is one of them so he can eat in the soup line, a Hooverville that gets broken up by the police, and men desperate for jobs who jump the train to go to California. When Bud does encounter Herman E. Calloway, the musician whose photo and flyers his mother kept, he is not exactly what Bud expected. The ending was a satisfying one with positive growth for all characters.

This year's Newbery Medal winner, Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos, is also a winner of the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction.