Chapter 8: Historical Fiction

Historical Fiction is a way authors can express the experience of people and events in the past. Authors write historical fiction by weaving together pieces of factual information and filling parts of information with imagination. The success of historical fiction depends on the authors way of combining the actual facts of the event, with their own imagination of the event, and the fictional tale of the event. Historical fiction is realistic because they are possible. The setting of historical fiction is real, the characters did or could have existed, and the plot is reasonable. The only reason these stories are not considered realistic fiction is because these stories are set in the past. Historical fiction must have taken place in the past and by past that could mean fifty, twenty five, or one year ago, it all depends on time periods.
Benefits to Historical fiction is that it creates another world, but is strongly connected to the world we live in today. This genre helps children understand that the present and future are linked to actions of the past. (Johnson, 2009). Historical fiction is a good way for young readers to realize that they are apart of history and they are connected to the past. Historical Fiction was intended to be made personal and engaging unlike textbooks that seem dry and uninteresting. This way students acquire a better understanding as well as enjoyment for history. Play acting is a great way to enhance students understanding to the events in the past. Acting in a play gives meaning to the awareness of an event such as racism. The student may be familiar with the story of Rosa Parks but if they were to play Rosa Parks they would have a better feeling of understanding and meaning to the event. Historical Fiction is a great way to get students interested in the past. Children will be able to relate to a past time through text, creating images in their head of what it was like back in that time.