Week 9-10 Flashcards
realistic fiction set in a time remote enough from the present to be considered history. Stories about events that occurred at least one generation (defined as twenty years or more) prior to the date of the original publication have been included in this chapter and categorized as historical fiction.
historical fiction
In the most common form of historical fiction, the main characters of the story are imaginary, but some secondary characters may be actual historical figures. An example of this type of historical fiction is the classic novel
Another example, Carolyn Meyer’s Mary, Bloody Mary, written from Mary’s point of view, is set in sixteenth-century England. Mary Tudor, who was briefly Queen of England, interacts with her father, King Henry, Anne Boleyn, and other court figures.
Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
publishes a list of the most notable trade books in the field of social studies from the preceding year in the April/May issue of its journal, Social Education. This list includes many works of historical fiction, as well as nonfiction works, and is a useful source to locate recent books of this genre.
The National Council of Social Studies
honors what is judged to be the most outstanding work of children’s historical fiction published in the previous year.
The Scott O’Dell Award, established in 1982 by the author Scott O’Dell
Newbery Medal–winning book
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare, published in 1958
Biography gives factual information about the lives of actual people, including their experiences, influences, accomplishments, and legacies.
biography
is similar in every respect to biography, except that the author tells about his or her own life.
Autobiography
although related to autobiographies in that they deal with the authors’ lives, focus on the authors’ revelations of what events in their lives meant to them, not the events themselves
Memoirs
covers the entire life of the subject from birth to death. An example is Napoléon: The Story of the Little Corporal by Robert Burleigh.
complete biography
covers only part of the life of the subject. Biographies for very young children will often be of this type, as will, of course, the biographies of living persons. An example is The Young Hans Christian Andersen by Karen Hesse, illustrated by Erik Blegvad.
the partial biography
is a multivolume set of books with each book containing one separate biography. For example, the First Biographies series by David A. Adler includes biographies on such subjects as Thomas Jefferson, Martin Luther King Jr., and Jackie Robinson.
biography series
includes the life stories of several people in one book, organized into chapters. An example is Women Daredevils: Thrills, Chills, and Frills by Julie Cummins, illustrated by Cheryl Harness.
the collected biography
fulfills all of these criteria and is particularly appealing to young readers because it is told from the perspective of the author as a 6-year-old.
Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges and Margo Lundell
is also based on careful research, but the author creates dramatic episodes from known facts by using imagined conversation. The conversation is, of course, carefully structured around the pertinent facts that are known, but the actual words are invented by the author. An example of this type of biography is The Poet King of Tezcoco: A Great Leader of Ancient Mexico by Francisco Serrano.
fictionalized biography
all factual information is documented through eyewitness accounts, written documents, letters, diaries, and, more recently, audio and video recordings. Details in the lives of people who lived long ago, such as conversations, are often difficult to document
authentic biography
