Historical Fiction - Exodus Books

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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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Parent Categories

Fiction & Literature

Fiction by Genre

Historical Fiction

Subcategories by Grade

4th grade (Ages 9-10)

5th grade (Ages 10-11)

6th grade (Ages 11-12)

7th grade (Ages 12-13)

Subcategories

G. A. Henty Books

- Henty Audio Books

Louise Vernon Historical Fiction

We Were There Series

44 Items found Print

Active Filters:

Realistic Fiction,

4th grade (Ages 9-10),

Hardcover

	By the Shores of Silver Lake Little House Series #5 by Laura Ingalls Wilder from HarperCollins Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade 1940 Newbery Honor Book in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF) $18.99 $8.00 (2 in stock)
	By the Shores of Silver Lake (Pictorial Cover) Little House Series #5 by Laura Ingalls Wilder; illustrated by Garth Williams from HarperCollins Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade 1940 Newbery Honor Book in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC) $9.00 (2 in stock)
	Cheaper By the Dozen by Frank Gilbreth & Ernestine Gilbreth Carey 1st edition 1st printing from HarperCollins Family Stories for 4th-9th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
	Cheaper By the Dozen by Frank Gilbreth & Ernestine Gilbreth Carey, notes by Frederick Houk Law 2nd School Edition from Globe Book Company Family Stories for 4th-9th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
	Courage of Sarah Noble by Alice Dalgliesh from Atheneum for 3rd-5th grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $19.99
	Courage of Sarah Noble by Alice Dalgliesh from Charles Scribner's Sons for 3rd-5th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
	Elijah Of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis from Scholastic Inc. Nursery Rhymes for 4th-6th grade 2008 Coretta Scott King Author Award Winner, 2008 Newbery Honor Book in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF) $9.00 (2 in stock)
	Elin's Amerika by Marguerite de Angeli for 3rd-5th grade in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
	Farmer Boy Little House Series #3 by Laura Ingalls Wilder from HarperCollins Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF) $19.99
	Farmer Boy Little House Series #3 by Laura Ingalls Wilder, illustrated by Helen Sewell from Harper & Brothers Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
	Farmer Boy (Pictorial Cover) Little House Series #3 by Laura Ingalls Wilder from HarperCollins Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
	First Four Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder from HarperCollins Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF) $18.99 $8.00 (1 in stock)
	First Four Years (Pictorial Cover) by Laura Ingalls Wilder; illustrated by Garth Williams from Harper & Row for 3rd-8th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC) $8.00 (1 in stock)
	Fortunate Grandchild by Miss Read 1st US Edition from Houghton Mifflin for 4th-6th grade in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
	Grandfather's Dance by Patricia MacLachlan from HarperCollins Realistic Fiction for 3rd-6th grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
	Journey to America by Sonia Levitin, illustrated by Charles Robinson from Atheneum for 4th-8th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC) $6.00 (1 in stock)
	Kings Mountain by G. Clifton Wisler 1^st edition from HarperCollins for 4th-6th grade in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF) $8.00 (1 in stock)
	Liberty Letters: The Personal Correspondence of Hannah Brown and Sarah Smith The Underground Railroad, 1858 by Nancy LeSourd 1^st edition from Zonderkidz for 3rd-6th grade in Series Books (Location: SER-MISC) $5.00 (1 in stock)
	Little Duke by Charlotte M. Yonge from J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd. for 4th-8th grade in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
	Little House in the Big Woods Little House Series #1 by Laura Ingalls Wilder from HarperCollins Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF) $18.99
	Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder, illustrated by Garth Williams Book Club Edition from Harper & Row for 3rd-6th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC) $4.00 (1 in stock)
	Little House in the Big Woods (Pictorial Cover) by Laura Ingalls Wilder from Harper & Row for 3rd-6th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC) $9.00 (5 in stock)
	Little House on the Prairie Little House Series #2 by Laura Ingalls Wilder from HarperCollins Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF) $17.99
	Little House on the Prairie (pictorial hardcover) Little House Series #2 by Laura Ingalls Wilder from HarperCollins Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
	Little House on the Prairie - 75th Anniversary Edition by Laura Ingalls Wilder 75 Anv Rev from HarperCollins for 3rd-8th grade in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF) $16.99
	Little Town on the Prairie Little House Series #7 by Laura Ingalls Wilder from HarperCollins Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade 1942 Newbery Honor Book in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF) $19.99
	Little Town on the Prairie (Pictorial Cover) Little House Series #7 by Laura Ingalls Wilder; illustrated by Garth Williams from HarperCollins Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade 1942 Newbery Honor Book in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
	Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, illustrated by Anna Marie Magagna from Grosset & Dunlap for 4th-8th grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
	Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, illustrated by Derek James from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. for 4th-8th grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
	Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, illustrated by Kate Aldous and James McGairy First Edition from Parragon Publishing for 4th-8th grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
	Long Winter Little House Series #6 by Laura Ingalls Wilder from HarperCollins Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade 1941 Newbery Honor Book in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF) $19.99 $9.50 (1 in stock)
	Moccasin Trail Puffin Newbery Library by Eloise J. McGraw 9th impression from Coward McCann Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade 1953 Newbery Honor Book in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC) $35.00 (1 in stock)
	My Favorite Songs Maria Von Trapp's Childhood Folk Songs With Audio CD by Maria Trapp from Veritas Press for Kindergarten-Adult in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF) $17.00
	On the Banks of Plum Creek Little House Series #4 by Laura Ingalls Wilder from HarperCollins Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade 1938 Newbery Honor Book in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF) $18.99
	On the Banks of Plum Creek (Pictorial Cover) by Laura Ingalls Wilder from Harper & Row for 3rd-6th grade in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
	Place to Hang the Moon by Kate Albus from Margaret Ferguson Books for 3rd-6th grade in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF) $17.99
	Puritan Adventure by Lois Lenski from Lippincott for 3rd-7th grade in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
	Rodzina by Karen Cushman from Clarion Books for 3rd-6th grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $8.00 (1 in stock)
	So Far from the Sea by Eve Bunting from Clarion Books for Kindergarten-4th grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $5.00 (1 in stock)
	Stink Alley by Jamie Gilson from HarperCollins in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF) $10.00 (1 in stock)
	Storyteller's Beads by Jane Kurtz, Michael Bryant 1^st edition from Gulliver Books for 4th-8th grade in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
	These Happy Golden Years Little House Series #8 by Laura Ingalls Wilder from HarperCollins Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade 1944 Newbery Honor Book in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF) $19.99
	These Happy Golden Years Little House Series #8 by Laura Ingalls Wilder Library edition from HarperCollins Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade 1944 Newbery Honor Book in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
	Three Names by Patricia MacLachlan, illustrated by Alexander Pertzoff from HarperCollins for 2nd-4th grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $7.50 (1 in stock)

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