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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: 8th grade (Ages 13-14), Hardcover, Used Books & Materials
Anna of Byzantium
by Tracy Barrett
from Delacorte Press
for 7th-10th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Beggar's King
by Howard C. Emmons
from Van Kampen Press
for 7th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Big Bad Ironclad!
Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #2
by Nathan Hale
from Amulet Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$14.99 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Black Falcon
by Armstrong Sperry
from John C. Winston
for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$18.00 (1 in stock)
Black Rose
by Thomas B. Costain
from Doubleday & Company
for 8th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Captive
by Scott O'Dell
from HMH Books for Young Readers
for 5th-8th grade
Hans Christian Anderson Award
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.00 (2 in stock)
Chariot in the Sky
Land of the Free Series
by Arna Bontemps, illustrated by Cyrus Le Roy Baldridge
1st edition from John C. Winston
Historical fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$35.00 (1 in stock)
Chord of Steel
by Thomas B. Costain
from Doubleday & Company
for 8th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Codfish Musket
by Agnes Hewes, illustrated by Armstrong Sperry
from Doubleday, Doran & Company Inc.
for 8th-12th grade
1937 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$45.00 (1 in stock)
Countdown
by Deborah Wiles
1st edition from Scholastic Press
for 6th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Darkness and the Dawn
by Thomas B. Costain
from Doubleday & Company
for 8th-12th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Downright Dencey
by Caroline Dale Snedeker, illustrated by Maginel Wright Barney
from Doubleday & Company
Realistic Fiction for 6th-9th grade
1928 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$22.00 (1 in stock)
ECL: Virginian
Educator Classic Library #6
by Owen Wister, illustrated by Don Irwin
Complete and Unabridged Edition from Classic Press
in Educator Classic Library (Location: VIN-ECL)
$5.00 (2 in stock)
Far Frontier
by William O. Steele; illustrated by Paul Galdone
from Harcourt
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
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)
Gudrid's Saga
by Constance Irwin
from St. Martin's Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Helmet of Navarre
by Burke Wilkinson, illustrated by James W. Williamson
Second Printing from Macmillan
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Horses of Anger
by James Forman
2nd Printing from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for 7th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
I, Juan de Pareja
by Elizabeth Borton de Treviño
1994 Printing from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Realistic Fiction/Slavery for 5th-8th grade
1966 Newbery Medal winner
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
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)
$12.00 (2 in stock)
Jack Wade, Fighter for Liberty
A Doubleday Signal Book
by Irving Werstein, illustrated by Albert Orbaan
from Doubleday & Company
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
January's Sparrow
by Patricia Polacco
from Philomel Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.00 (1 in stock)
Johnny Tremain
Illustrated American Classics
by Esther Forbes
from Houghton Mifflin
Historical Fiction/Adventure for 3rd-10th grade
1944 Newbery Medal winner
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
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)
Kathleen: A Yankee Girl at Gettysburg
by Alice Turner Curtis
from Gramercy Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$5.50 (2 in stock)
Lady of Arlington
by Harnett T. Kane
from Doubleday & Company
for 6th-12th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy
by Gary D. Schmidt
from Scholastic Inc.
for 7th-9th grade
2005 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Lord Hornblower
by C. S. Forester
from Little, Brown & Company
for 8th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Lost Garden
by Laurence Yep
from Simon and Schuster
Autobiography for 6th-9th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Man of the Family
Little Britches Series #2
by Ralph Moody
from People's Book Club
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Man of the Family
Little Britches Series #2
by Ralph Moody
1st edition from W. W. Norton and Co.
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$15.00 (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 Brother Sam Is Dead
by James & Christopher Collier
from Simon and Schuster
Historical Fiction for 5th-8th grade
1975 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Never Dies the Dream
by Margaret Landon
from Doubleday & Company
for 7th-12th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Ojibway Drums
by Marian Magoon, illustrated by Larry Toschik
from Longmans, Green & Co.
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Out of the Dust
by Karen Hesse
from Scholastic Inc.
Realistic Fiction for 6th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Out of the Dust
by Karen Hesse
1st edition from Scholastic Inc.
Realistic Fiction for 6th-8th grade
1998 Newbery Medal winner
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Pran of Albania
by Elizabeth Miller, illustrated by Maud & Miska Petersham
1930s printing from Doubleday, Doran & Company Inc.
for 6th-10th grade
1930 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$115.00 (1 in stock)
Princess Adelina
by Julie Sutter
from Vision Forum
Historical fiction / Irish missions for 7th-10th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Ride With Me
by Thomas B. Costain
1944 Edition from Nelson Doubleday, Inc.
for 8th-12th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Road from Home
by David Kherdian
from Greenwillow Books
for 7th-9th grade
1980 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Rush Revere and the American Revolution
by Rush Limbaugh with Kathryn Adams Limbaugh
from Threshold Editions
for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims
by Rush Limbaugh
from Threshold Editions
for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Rush Revere and the First Patriots
by Rush Limbaugh
1St Edition from Threshold Editions
for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Scottish Chiefs
by Jane Porter, edited by Kate Douglas Wiggin and Nora A. Smith, illustrated by N.C. Wyeth
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for 8th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$20.00 (1 in stock)
Secret Church
by Louise A. Vernon; illustrated by Thomas Dunbebin
from Review and Herald Publishing Association
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Silver Sword
by Ian Serraillier, illustrated by C. Walter Hodges
from Criterion Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (3 in stock)
Sing Down the Moon
by Scott O'Dell
from Houghton Mifflin
for 6th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Slave Dancer
by Paula Fox
from Simon and Schuster
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
1974 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Slave Dancer
by Paula Fox
from Simon and Schuster
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
1974 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Slave Dancer
by Paula Fox, illustrated by Eros Keith
from Bradbury Press
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
1974 Newbery Medal winner
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Snow Goose
by Paul Gallico
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 7th-12th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$19.95 $14.00 (2 in stock)
Son of a Hundred Kings
by Thomas B. Costain
from Doubleday & Company
for 7th-12th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Stories of the Covenanters in Scotland for Young People
by Robert Pollok
from Sprinkle Publications
for 4th-8th grade
in Church History (Location: XCH-HIS)
$20.00 (2 in stock)
Stories of the Old Dominion
by John Esten Cooke
from American Foundation Publications
for 5th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$8.00 (2 in stock)
Streams to the River, River to the Sea
by Scott O'Dell
from Houghton Mifflin
Historical Fiction for 7th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
This Dear-Bought Land
by Jean Lee Latham
from Harper & Row
for 3rd-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$56.00 (1 in stock)
Thunder Rolling in the Mountains
by Scott O'Dell & Elizabeth Hall
from Houghton Mifflin
for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Trumpeter of Krakow
by Eric P. Kelly, illustrated by Angela Pruszynska
from Macmillan
Historical Fiction for 6th-9th grade
1929 Newbery Medal winner
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$25.00 (1 in stock)
Two Years Before the Mast (abridged)
by Richard Henry Dana Jr.
from Nelson Doubleday, Inc.
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Well of Sacrifice
by Chris Eboch
1st edition from Clarion Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.00 (2 in stock)
Which Way Freedom?
by Joyce Hansen
from Walker and Company
for 5th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Yankee Doodle Boy
by Joseph Martin
from Holiday House
Historical Non-Fiction for 5th-8th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Young Mac of Fort Vancouver
by Mary Jane Carr, illustrated by Richard Holberg
from Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.
for 5th-8th grade
1941 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$15.00 (2 in stock)
Zia
by Scott O'Dell
from Houghton Mifflin
Realistic Fiction for 6th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
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