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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: North America, In-Stock Books & Materials
Antoine of Oregon
America's Children
by James Otis
from Living Book Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.79
Attack in the Rye Grass
Trailblazer Series
by Dave and Neta Jackson
from Castle Rock Creative
for 3rd-7th grade
in Trailblazer Books (Location: SER-TRAIL)
$9.99
Bad News for Outlaws
by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
for 5th-7th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.99 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Ballad of Lucy Whipple
by Karen Cushman
from HarperCollins
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$5.09 $2.40 (1 in stock)
Bears, Pirates and Silver Lace
by Anne B. Fisher; illustrated by Phil Nesbitt
from Binford & Mort Publishing
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$5.60 (1 in stock)
Bite of the Gold Bug
by Barthe DeClements
from Puffin Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Gilded Age & Progressive Era (1877-1918) (Location: HISA-19GI)
$4.24 $1.60 (2 in stock)
Blades of Freedom
Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #10
by Nathan Hale
from Amulet Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$13.59
Bound for Oregon
by Jean Van Leeuwen
from Puffin Books
Historical Fiction for 4th-7th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.64 $3.60 (1 in stock)
Boy in the Alamo
by Margaret Cousins
from Veritas Press
Historical fiction for 4th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$19.00
Butter in the Well: Historical Diary 1868-1888
by Linda K. Hubalek
from Butterfield Books
for 8th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Calico Bush
by Rachel Field, illustrated by Allen Lewis
from Macmillan
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$5.60 (1 in stock)
Calvert of Maryland
America's Children
by James Otis
from Living Book Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.79
Captain, My Captain
by Deborah Meroff
from Inheritance Publications
Historical Fiction for 8th-10th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$12.71
Countdown
by Deborah Wiles
1st edition from Scholastic Press
for 6th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Double Life of Pocahontas
by Jean Fritz
from Trumpet Club
Biography for 4th-8th grade
in Jamestown Colony (Location: HISA-17JA)
$2.50 (2 in stock)
Finns and Finnicans
by Walter Mattila
from Walter Mattila
for Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$30.40 (1 in stock)
Gone Crazy in Alabama
by Rita Williams-Garcia
Reprint from Amistad Press
for 4th-7th grade
Coretta Scott King Award
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.64
Island of the Blue Dolphins
by Scott O'Dell
from Houghton Mifflin
Realistic Fictio for 5th-8th grade
1961 Newbery Medal Winner
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.60 (1 in stock)
Island of the Blue Dolphins
by Scott O'Dell
Anv from Sandpiper Books
Realistic Fiction for 5th-8th grade
1961 Newbery Medal winner
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.49 $4.00 (2 in stock)
Judy's Journey
by Lois Lenski
from Open Road Publishing
for 4th-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$16.15
Klondike Gold
by Alice Provensen
from Simon and Schuster
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Lion to Guard Us
by Clyde Robert Bulla
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction for 2nd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.49 $3.20 (3 in stock)
Me, Cholay & Co.
by Don Schellie
from Four Winds Press
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Mooring Tree
by Gertrude Robinson
2020 GaTB from The Good and the Beautiful
for 4th-8th grade
in GATB Language Arts & Reading (Location: CUR-GABELA)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
My Brother, My Enemy
by Madge Harrah
1st edition from Simon and Schuster
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Neeluk
by Frances Kittredge
from Alaska Northwest Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Oregon Trail #01
Choose Your Own Trail!
by Jesse Wiley
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.49
Oregon Trail #02
Choose Your Own Trail!
by Jesse Wiley
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.49
Oregon Trail #03
Choose Your Own Trail!
by Jesse Wiley
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.49
Oregon Trail #04
Choose Your Own Trail!
by Jesse Wiley
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.49
Oregon Trail #05
Choose Your Own Trail!
by Jesse Wiley
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.79
Oregon Trail #06
Choose Your Own Trail!
by Jesse Wiley
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.79
Oregon Trail #07: Gold Rush
Choose Your Own Trail!
by Jesse Wiley
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.49
Oregon Trail #08
Choose Your Own Trail!
by Jesse Wiley
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.49
Oregon Trail #1-4 - Boxed Set
Choose Your Own Trail!
by Jesse Wiley
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
for 3rd-6th grade
in Boxed Sets & Literature Packages (Location: FIC-BOX)
$33.99
Patty Reed's Doll
by Rachel K. Laurgaard
from Tomato Enterprises
Historical fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$5.60 (3 in stock)
Peter of New Amsterdam
America's Children
by James Otis
from Living Book Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.79
Philip of Texas (abridged)
from Notgrass Company
for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$5.91
Prairie School
by Lois Lenski
Reprint from Open Road Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$14.44
Rainbow's Gold
by Vera Martin Lynch
from William W. Lynch
for 6th-12th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$4.40 (1 in stock)
Ramona
by Helen Jackson
from Little, Brown & Company
for 9th-12th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Richard of Jamestown
by James Otis
from Yesterday's Classics
for 3rd-5th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$10.16
Richard of Jamestown
by James Otis
from Living Book Press
for 3rd-5th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.79
Ruth of Boston
America's Children
by James Otis
from Living Book Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.79
Serpent Never Sleeps
by Scott O'Dell
from Fawcett Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$2.80 (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
Stories of the Old Dominion
by John Esten Cooke
from American Foundation Publications
for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$4.80 (2 in stock)
Surviving Jamestown
by Gail Karwoski
from Peachtree Publishers, Ltd.
for 3rd-12th grade
in Jamestown Colony (Location: HISA-17JA)
$7.61 $3.20 (2 in stock)
This Dear-Bought Land
by Jean Lee Latham
from Bob Jones University Press
for 3rd-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$10.19
This Dear-Bought Land
by Jean Lee Latham
from Harper & Row
for 3rd-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$44.80 (1 in stock)
Trouble for Lucy
by Carla Stevens
from Clarion Books
Historical Fiction for 4th-5th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.76 $4.40 (1 in stock)
When the Cherry Blossoms Fell
by Jennifer Maruno
from Napoleon Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.34
Written in Stone
by Rosanne Parry
from Yearling
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$2.80 (1 in stock)
Zia
by Scott O'Dell
from HMH Books for Young Readers
Realistic Fiction for 6th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.49
Zia
by Scott O'Dell
from Houghton Mifflin
Realistic Fiction for 6th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
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