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Historical Fiction

The best way to learn history is not always in a textbook. (That's probably the worst way, really, but more on that elsewhere.) While learning history through novels can be taken too far (it is fiction after all), there's much to be said for getting a feel for the Civil War through books like The Red Badge of Courage or Across Five Aprils, or learning about the deep rifts between Saxons and Normans in Medieval England through Scott's Ivanhoe.

A well-researched historical novel imparts something no list of names and dates can—a picture of life among a particular people at a particular time, the way they thought, the way they ate, who they admired, how they traveled. Sometimes readers are introduced to real historical figures and events from an intimate perspective, not the stale cardboard presentations common in schools.

There's plenty of nonsense available, of course, and just because the cover says a book takes place in Renaissance Italy or ancient Egypt doesn't mean it's a good book, or even that it's historical fiction in the true sense. A writer who simply transposes stories on different time periods isn't really saying anything about that time period, they're just trying to inflate sales with an appeal to the exotic and unfamiliar.

Such bogus historical fiction is really just fantasy. The good stuff is real and bright and dusty and loud, just like an old Roman city or a battle between Roundheads and Cavaliers. It reflects the religious sentiments of the characters as they would have been, such as in Lilli Thal's brilliant Medieval epic Mimus. It shows how one small action can lead to many much larger events, as happens frequently in C.S. Forester's Hornblower series.

Whether you're into the technical descriptions of battles found in Henty's boy-versus-the-world stories, or prefer the romance of The Scarlet Pimpernel, or like to break your heart over and over with books like Amos Fortune, Free Man, historical fiction is above all fiction of the present—not to be kept in the annals of the past, it shows us that the people of long ago (or not so long ago) are not so different than the people of today.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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Active Filters: 20th Century, 3rd grade (Ages 8-9)
$25,000 Flight
Stepping Stone: Totally True Adventures!
by Lori Haskins Houran
from Random House
for 2nd-5th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Amelia & Eleanor Go For a Ride
by Pam Munoz Ryan & Brian Selznick (Illustrator)
from Scholastic Inc.
for 1st-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$15.29
Andie's Moon
Historical House: 1969
by Linda Newbery
from Educational Development Corporation
for 3rd-6th grade
in Series Books (Location: SER-MISC)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Arctic Son
by Jean Craighead George, illustrated by Wendell Minor
from Disney-Hyperion
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Earthquake!
by Kathleen V. Kudlinski
from Scholastic Inc.
for 2nd-5th grade
in Titanic & 20th Century Disasters (Location: HISW-20DIS)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Earthquake!
by Kate Wilson
from Steck-Vaughn Company
for 3rd-5th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Echo Mountain
by Lauren Wolk
from Dutton Children's Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.49
Fire at the Triangle Factory
by Holly Littlefield, illustrated by Mary O'Keefe Young
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
for 2nd-5th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Giant
by Judith McQuoid
from Little Island Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$15.29
Green Glass Sea
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Hero Over Here
by Kathleen V. Kudlinski
from Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd.
for 2nd-5th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Hiroshima
by Laurence Yep
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$5.09 $2.40 (1 in stock)
I Am David
by Anne Holm
from Harcourt
Realistic Fiction for 3rd-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.49
I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic, 1912
by Lauren Tarshis
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-5th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic, 1912 - Graphic Novel
by Lauren Tarshis, art by Haus Studio
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-5th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$4.40 (1 in stock)
Jazz Man
by Mary Hays Weik
2nd edition from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 3rd-6th grade
Newbery Honor Book 1967
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$5.94 $3.20 (1 in stock)
Letter to Mrs. Roosevelt
by C. Coco De Young
from Yearling
Historical fiction for 3rd-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.79 $3.20 (3 in stock)
Letters from Rifka
by Karen Hesse
from Square Fish Publishing
Realistic Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.64
Liam's Watch
by Pamela Dell
from Tradition Books
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Long Way to a New Land
An I Can Read Book Level 3
by Joan Sandin
from HarperCollins
Historical Fiction for 2nd-4th grade
in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
$4.24 $2.00 (3 in stock)
Long Way to a New Land
An I Can Read Book Level 3
by Joan Sandin
from HarperCollins
Historical Fiction for 1st-3rd grade
in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
Lost in the Pacific, 1942
by Todd Olson
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Mieko and the Fifth Treasure
by Eleanor Coerr
from Puffin Books
for 2nd-4th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$5.99
My Brothers' Flying Machine
by Jane Yolen
from Little, Brown & Company
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Oversized Biographies (Location: BIO-OVER)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
North of Danger
by Dale Fife, map and decorations by Haakon Saether
1st edition from E.P. Dutton & Co.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Pearl Harbor is Burning!
by Kathleen V. Kudlinski, illustrated by Ronald Himler
from Viking Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Penny for a Hundred
by Ethel Pochocki
from Bethlehem Books
for 2nd-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.46
Place to Hang the Moon
by Kate Albus
from Margaret Ferguson Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.14
Place to Hang the Moon
by Kate Albus
from Margaret Ferguson Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$11.04
Polly's March
Historical House: 1914
by Linda Newbery
from Educational Development Corporation
for 3rd-6th grade
in Series Books (Location: SER-MISC)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Prairie School
by Lois Lenski
Reprint from Open Road Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$14.44
Samantha's Surprise #03
American Girl
by Susan S. Adler
from American Girl
for 2nd-5th grade
in American Girl (Location: SER-AMGIRL)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Snow Treasure
by Marie McSwigan
from Dutton Children's Books
Historical Fiction for 3rd-7th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.64 $3.60 (1 in stock)
Snowshoe Thompson
An I Can Read Book Level 3
by Nancy Smiler Levinson & Joan Sandin
from HarperCollins
Historical Fiction for 2nd-4th grade
in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
$4.24
Soldier Bear
by Bibi Dumon Tak, translated by Philip Hopman and translated by Laura Watkinson
from Eerdmans
for 3rd-6th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Spy Who Came in from the Sea
by Peggy Nolan
from Pineapple Press
Adventure Stories for 2nd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$12.71
Stink Alley
by Jamie Gilson
from HarperCollins
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Stink Alley
by Jamie Gilson
from Avyx, Inc.
for 3rd-5th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.20 (1 in stock)
Tales of the RAF - Six Volume Set
Tales of the RAF
by Don Patterson
from Hindsight Ltd
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$30.00 (1 in stock)
Tangled Skein
by Alta Halverson Seymour, illustrated by Harold Minton
from Purple House Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$10.19
That Book Woman
by Heather Henson
from Atheneum
for 3rd-5th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Titanic
You Choose Books
by Bob Temple
from Capstone Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Series Books (Location: SER-MISC)
$2.80 (1 in stock)
Toward Morning
by Alta Halverson Seymour
from Purple House Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.34
Treaties, Trenches, Mud, and Blood
Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #4
by Nathan Hale
from Amulet Books
for 3rd-8th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$13.59
Upstairs Room
by Johanna Reiss
from HarperCollins
for 3rd-6th grade
1973 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Upstairs Room
by Johanna Reiss
from HarperCollins
for 3rd-6th grade
1973 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.79
Voyage on the Great Titanic
Dear America
by Ellen Emerson White
from Scholastic Inc.
Fictional historical journal for 3rd-6th Grade
in Dear America Books (Location: SER-DEAR)
War Horse
by Michael Morpurgo
from Scholastic Press
for 2nd-6th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$6.79
Winnie's Great War
by Lindsay Mattick and Josh Greenhut, Illustrated by Sophie Blackall
from Little, Brown & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$14.44
Winnie's Great War
by Lindsay Mattick and Josh Greenhut, Illustrated by Sophie Blackall
from Little, Brown & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.64
Written in Stone
by Rosanne Parry
from Yearling
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$2.80 (1 in stock)
Year of Impossible Goodbyes
by Sook Nyul Choi
from Yearling
for 3rd-7th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.79
Year of Impossible Goodbyes
by Sook Nyul Choi
from Houghton Mifflin
for 3rd-7th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Year of Miss Agnes
by Kirkpatrick Hill
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$5.94
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