Let’s be honest—we’ve all seen them in the stores: the adult historical fiction with the cover of a woman standing on the precipice of her life, her back turned from the reader (usually carrying a suitcase, or walking with a friend, or a child). The book takes place between the modern day and the turning point of history, and it’s about love and mystery.
I own those books. I’ve read those books. There is nothing inherently wrong with those books.
For me, historical fiction goes back to the Middle Grade series, I Survived. If you aren’t familiar, it’s a series of different historical events and kids who survived them. These could range from the Titanic to the Black Death, and it was a big deal for my elementary school. Personally, I never understood. I was much more attracted to the Sisters in Time series, which was about young girls placed in significant historical events. That was the beginning of my historical fiction journey and that series defined my standards for YA and MG historical fiction. Historical fiction in these genres must include elements such as coming-of-age stories, informed historical context, and intriguing historical moments.
It’s imperative that YA and MG historical fiction have coming-of-age elements. Even if we are reading about something dark within history, the hope of a coming-of-age story—which places both the character and the reader at a turning point of growth, understanding, and the future—should always be the center of historical fiction for young readers. It’s hope in light of darkness. If you approach history with only a hopeless mindset, it’s futile to encourage young adults and children to have hope about the future. There are certainly books out there that focus on the horrors of historical moments, and we shouldn’t shy away from discussing those with young readers, but it’s hard to show them those moments and then ask them to walk forward in hope. Furthermore, I am most impacted by these coming-of-age stories because I am able to connect with the young men and women from a different time period, watching them change and grow in similar ways to me and other young adults today.
Obviously, there are different ways to approach any historical moment that may contain hard topics and hard conversations. I think that these shouldn’t be taken lightly, and should be carefully considered when presented (especially to MG and Kids Lit readers). There is always a way to communicate the truth without exposing children to something they aren’t ready for. Furthermore, keeping the history in context and avoiding our own prejudices or interpretations will help us narrow down exactly what historical fiction should look like and how it should be presented. If a story is about a specific time period, it should be told from that period’s perspective. The best historical fiction is immersive. Accuracy is included in this. It’s a fine line between being fully exposed and potentially harmful to children, and being inaccurate, overly saturated in modern-day influences, and being more inspired than informed.
That’s a very broad characterization of what I look for in a historical fiction novel. I also want to touch on a very beautiful aspect of historical fiction: unknown history. I have always gravitated towards novels set in a time or place I know nothing about. Take Behind Five Willows by June Hur, a YA historical fiction romance set in 1700s Korea (check out Emersen’s review!), or Five Days at the Hotel Adams by Hailey Alcaraz, an MG novel about gutsy girls in early 1900s Arizona (check out my review). I knew nothing about this history going in, and was pleasantly surprised by the novels. I’d also like to throw into the mix: Riding the Flume by Patricia Curtis Pfitsch (YA, 1910s Sierra Nevada lumber town), Rosa by Any Other Name by Hailey Alacaraz (YA, 1950s Phoenix), The Four Seasons of Florence Wallace by Kirstie Myvett (MG, Civil War Era, New York), and any of the Sisters in Time novels. History is vast, and there is always something to learn about. For me, historical fiction is all about the unknown moments, the unknown stories, and the unknown connections to our lives today.
I’ve read a lot of historical fiction in recent years. Some of it was good, some of it was bad. Sometimes I could tell the author was coming from a place of modernity, and at other times from a love for history. There is such a great opportunity for YA and MG readers to fall in love with history and historical fiction, and when it’s written with them in mind, it’s wonderful.
Hayley Bigelow, Pine Reads Review Writer