Up Close & Personal...History Comes Alive
Up Close & Personal...
History Comes Alive
by
Kate Marley
Historical stories are a great way to personalize history and make it real for children. The
following books are about children in some famous, and not so famous, moments in time.
Historical fiction brings the muck, the gore, the smell of reality and the intimacy of
heartbreak right to the reader. And while they are a sneaky way to teach about the past,
they also show how kids throughout time have dealt with hardship and troubles, some of
which may seem bizarre to youngsters today. We may no longer have arranged marriages or
pirates, but the principles of faith, courage and truth are still relevant. One can always
hope that kids, at least, might learn from history.
PICTURE BOOKS
Granddaddy's Street Songs
by Monalisa DeGross. © 1999, Hyperion.
Not so long ago, street vendors called arabbers wound through the streets and alleys of
Baltimore with horse drawn wagons, luring their customers with songs. Little Roddy
loves to hear his Granddaddy’s stories about his days as an arabber, loves to look at the
old pictures and sing the old songs. Warm and colorful illustrations by Floyd Cooper
capture the old man’s vibrant memories, and even more, the love between him and his
grandson.
Lewis & Papa
by Barbara Joosse. © 1998, Chronicle Books.
They hear that one can make their fortune by packing sought after goods down the Santa
Fe Trail, and Papa decides to join a wagon train of others doing the same. Papa takes his
son Lewis along to help, and along the long hard trail, Lewis learns how to pack a wagon,
how to cross a river safely, and what it is to be a man. Illustrations by Jon Van Zyle help bring
the West to life.
Bach’s Big Adventure
by Sallie Ketcham. © 1999, Orchard Books.
Johann Sebastian Bach himself told his version of the story. Even in a family known for
their musical talent, Johann’s abilities were extraordinary. One day, his older brother tells
him that Adam Reincken of Hamburg is the greatest organist in Germany, not Johann.
Being a determined sort of kid, Johann walks all the way to Hamburg to find out about this man for
himself. Amusing watercolors are by Timothy Bush.
TRANSITIONAL BOOKS
Happy Birthday, Josefina!
by Valerie Tripp. © 1998, Pleasant Co.
Spirited, curious Josefina lives in 1824 New Mexico, on her father’s ranch with her
sisters. Like all the American Girls stories, it’s fairly predictable, but still a nice story
about everyday life in an early Hispanic community.
Soft Rain
by Cornelia Cornelissen. © 1998, Delacorte.
This is another excellent story about the Trail of Tears, when the American government
brutally relocated the Cherokee nation in 1838. Nine year old Soft Rain and her mother
are forced at gunpoint to abandon her blind grandmother and their house while her father
and brother are in the fields. Spare but eloquent, the agony and heartbreak of this forced
march where hundreds died are told through her eyes.
FOR OLDER READERS
Fire, Bed & Bone
by Henrietta Branford. © 1998, Candlewick.
This powerful, lyrical novel about the Peasants’ Revolt in 1381 England is told from a
dog’s point of view. She watches as her master and mistress listen to the whispered words
of equality and freedom, and is there when they pay for their presumption. In spare but eloquent language, she tells of the
children, both canine and human, during these unsettled times. It’s an eye-opening look
into the experiences of a class too often overlooked.
Susannah
by Janet Hickman. © 1998, Greenwillow.
This is an excellent book showing how the power of cults to cause dissention among
families is not a modern phenomenon. Set in 1810, this story about a thirteen year old
dragged into a new Shaker settlement by her distraught father after her mother’s death
touches on many issues still very relevant today. Cults, money, custody battles, family
values, tolerance, freedom of religion and the pursuit of happiness are all part of
Susannah’s story as she struggles against a way of life that she can not accept, even
though it brings peace to her father.
Pirate’s Son
by Geraldine McCaughrean. First American edition, 1998, Scholastic.
Orphaned and penniless in eighteenth century England, Nathan Gull and his younger
sister Maud are befriended by Tamo White, a pirate’s son who was sent to Nathan’s
school. The three travel to Madagascar, where Tamo grew up, and become mired in the
island’s complex and dangerous cultures - natives trying to live their own way, the
pirates who prey on them and the sea traders nearby. Both are foreign to Maud and Nathan
and the finely detailed story of how these youngsters find a new life is absorbing.
Miriam
by Beatrice Gormley. © 1999, Eerdmans.
Nearly everyone knows the story of Moses, but here is another point of view. His older sister
Miriam and the Egyptian princess’ chief lady-in-waiting Nebet trade chapters as they tell
their side of the story. Miriam struggles to stay true to her God and her own growing
powers of prophecy as she lives in the palace among what is at first to her an alien
culture. Nebet is trying to keep her princess on Pharoah’s good side among the cutthroat
political manuevering by courtiers and priests even as her mistress does flaky things like
adopting a Hebrew baby. I only wished it had been longer; Moses is still a toddler at the
end, but hopefully there will be a sequel.
Dust From Old Bones
by Sandra Forrester. © 1999, Morrow.
In 1838 New Orleans, young Simone Racine is part of the free mixed race society that
lives fairly prosperously, but precariously, along side the whites and slaves. This is a
fascinating story about some hard choices Simone must make and how she grows up a
little during a difficult year for her and her family.
Child Bride
by Ching Yeung Russell. © 1999, Boyds Mills Press.
In 1940, Ying is being raised by her Ah Pau, her mother’s mother, in a small town while
her parents are working in Hong Kong. But when her paternal grandmother falls ill, Ying
is sent to see her and discovers, to her horror, that she will be married off. Although only
eleven, Ying vigorously protests, and when that doesn’t work, runs away to find her Ah
Pau.
Bandit’s Moon
by Sid Fleischman. © 1998, Greenwillow.
During the gold rush in the mid 1800’s, there rode a Mexican bandit known to some as
the Robin Hood of California. Twelve year old Annyrose accidentally falls in with him
and his gang while escaping her cruel guardian and it’s through her eyes that we learn
about Joaquin Murieta, what set him on the outlaw’s path, and their narrow escapes as
Murieta seeks vengeance and Annyrose seeks her brother. Other colorful characters
include Three Fingered Jack, O.O. Mary and Captain Love. If any of these names sound
familiar (for instance, from the Zorro movie?) perhaps it’s because some of them were
real people.
Birchbark House
by Louise Erdrich. © 1999, Hyperion.
This is a story about a year in the life of an Ojibwa girl living with her family by Lake
Superior. It’s a busy year, filled with gathering food, and taking care of her younger
siblings, visiting relatives. But during the winter, an unwelcome and deadly visitor
arrives, and changes her life forever. It’s a haunting, but hopeful story mostly about the
resilience and power of the human spirit.
All contents © 1999, Kate Marley. All rights reserved.
