Introducing Historical Fiction to Young Readers: Grades 4-8

by John T. Gillespie

Overview

Enhance your historical fiction collection - and its popularity with readers and value in the classroom - with this wide-ranging guide. After discussion of various aspects of the genre (its importance, history, criteria for evaluation, and methods of presentation), the author takes an in-depth look at 80 of the best historical fiction novels published for this age group in the last 10 to 15 years. For each title there is a brief introduction discussing setting, historical background, and point of view; a list of characters; a detailed plot summary; and ways to introduce the book to students, including important passages for reading or retelling. This versatile tool, written by a recognized expert in children's literature, can be used for readers' advisory, curricular support, title selection, and collection development. Grades 4-8.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781591586210
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	10/30/2008
Series:	Children's and Young Adult Literature Reference
Pages:	490
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

John T. Gillespie, former Dean and Instructor of Library Science, Long Island University, New York, has authored numerous books in the areas of library management, school libraries, and children's and young adult literature.

Table of Contents

Preface
1. Introduction and Criteria for Evaluating Historical Ficton
2. A Brief History of Historical Fiction for Young Readers in English
3. Bringing Young Readers and Books Together
4. Europe
5. Asia and Oceania
6. Africa
7. Latin America and Canada
8. United States
Author Index
Title Index
Subject Index

Editorial Reviews

Gillespie has been putting together collections of reviewed and recommended books for many years and teacher-librarians are probably using them as selection tools either in print like this book or as a part of an automated selection system.” —Teacher Librarian

“Gillespie—author of several readers' advisory books for young readers, among then Classic Teenplots: A Booktalk Guide to Use with Readers Ages 12–18, Libraries Unlimited, (2006)—selects 80 of the best from 15 years. Each entry includes bibliographic information, an introduction, a thorough historical background, a list of characters, a detailed plot synopsis, suggestions for booktalking, and a short discussion of themes and subjects. The historical background and detailed summaries will be especially useful for teachers looking to select texts for classroom use. Librarians should be pleased with the multiple suggestions of passages for booktalking for each title, and the subject, title, and author indexes will help locate books for homework assignments . . . recommended for all school and public library collections.” —Booklist

“This book can easily be used by librarians to work with history teachers and is strongly recommended for librarians who purchase historical fiction.” —ARBA

“Gillespie (former Dean and instructor, library science, Long Island U.) provides a guidebook to historical fiction for grades 4–8 with the intention of engaging and instructing the age group. Gillespie provides both a brief history of historical fiction for young readers and his criteria for evaluating the books, and gives title listings by first geographic areas and then time period, as appropriate. Information for each title includes publication information, historical background, principal characters and plot synopsis, and passages for discussion. Both a title and subject index are provided.'” —Reference & Research Book News

“Gillespie begins with chapters that suggest the criteria by which fiction, and historical fiction specifically, should be evaluated. He gives a detailed and enlightening look at the development of the genre that serves as a useful guide for building a collection of must-haves or classics. . . . Overall, this is a solid resource for librarians new to the field, or for those looking to update their collections.” —School Library Jourbanal

“Dr. Gillespie gives us another wonderful resource that all librarians who work with the intended audience will definitely need but also want. . . . This is an essential purchase for all elementary/middle school librarians, public librarians and students in graduate classes in library science.” —Catholic Library World

“Librarians who work with young people, who do readers advisory and build juvenile collections, will find this work particularly valuable. However, while Gillespie's focus is on librarians, teachers will also find the information here extremely useful. Its layout and historical divisions will assist teachers in finding just the right book to make cross curricular connections with social studies, history, and language arts. Although this work is structured around novels suitable for grades four through eight, teachers of all grades will find this work valuable for its in-depth descriptions of novels that can be used for read alouds or resources for reluctant readers who are outside of the targeted age range. For academic librarians serving education students and juvenile collections this work would be an excellent addition since pre-service teachers preparing lesson plans and studying the field of children's literature will also find value in the outstanding coverage and depth of this work.” —Education Libraries

From the Publisher

Gillespie begins with chapters that suggest the criteria by which fiction, and historical fiction specifically, should be evaluated. He gives a detailed and enlightening look at the development of the genre that serves as a useful guide for building a collection of must-haves or classics. He also includes a generic chapter on how to bring books and children together, which feels a bit like "Children's Literature 101" with advice about attractive displays, book fairs, and knowing your readers. The strength of the volume is the in-depth coverage of the 81 featured novels, organized geographically, and then chronologically. Historical background, information about the author, a lengthy synopsis, passages for booktalking, and discussions of themes are all provided, giving librarians an arsenal of information to help get the right book into the right hands. The weakest section of featured novels is that of Africa, which includes only four titles. The strongest is on United States selections, bringing together a wide range of books with strong kid appeal. Overall, this is a solid resource for librarians new to the field, or for those looking to update their collections.-Jody Kopple, Shady Hill School, Cambridge, MA

School Library Journal