YA Textbook Reflection Chapter 10

-
Chapter 10: Historical Fiction

Summary: Historical fiction is considered to be any story that is set in the past. The tricky part of historical fiction is the age of the student depends on what they deem to be considered history. Young children might think history is what they ate for breakfast in the morning. Older students think history to be something that took place when they were younger. Adults tend to think of history as something that happened before they were born. This is why it's important for librarians to think about what they put in the historical fiction section of their library, simply because history means something different for everyone. Certain criteria have been laid out in order for us to properly evaluate historical fiction for children. They are as follows:

 - Does the book tell a good story that effortlessly blends the history into the story itself?

 - Are the facts of the historical period accurate? It's important to rely on accurate and authentic reviews to source your literature. Some reputable councils are the Council on Books for Children and the National Council in Social Studies.

 - How are the values of the time brought to life? For example The Witch of Blackbird Pond won the Newbery in 1959 and the role of women and religion are very different than how we view them today.

 - Is everything consistent with the social milieu? Are clothing, speech patterns, music, architecture accurate with the time period?

 - Does the them of the story relate to contemporary readers? The book should have a universal theme that applies to contemporary readers.

 Reflection/Response: I did some extra research of my own and found that historical fiction can be found in many different formats such as drama, graphic novels, theatrical plays, comics, documentary fiction, and historical mysteries and romance.  While perusing historical fiction articles I still have one burning question about how much the author can get away with, when it comes to blending true historical facts with their fictional story they want to portray. In other words, how do they keep history true and mix in their fictional story, all while not making the reader second guess what is actually true in the history books?  However, even with nice little “twists” in historical fiction I still believe it’s an important literary genre to encourage your students to read, simply for the fact that they could potentially have a positive influence on the reader to explore the historical nonfiction section in the library. Suggesting books to read is all about making connections to the next book the reader will pick up.  Librarians must always be thinking one step ahead of the reader and have the scaffolding concepts of books in mind at all times.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Videos and QR Codes in the Library

-
Image
So you still want to update your library and freshen up the atmosphere?  Here are a few pieces of technology you can use to stay "hip" with your students!  Below I will talk about YouTube, Animoto, and QR Codes.  I'll give example of each and tell you how they can be beneficial to your library and why they catch the eyes of students. YouTube YouTube is a great way to connect with your students.  They're always on watching videos of random cats and what not...so why fight it?...just go with the flow on this one.  Create your own YouTube channel and get your kids connected to the library through your silly videos.  You can make videos helpful for your students as well as create videos that will bring out the creative side of your students.  Here are a few examples below: NHS Library 1. Most Helpful for Students: 2. Students would like the best: The Unquiet Library 1. Most Helpful for Students: 2. Students would like the best: ...
Read more

YA Textbook Reflection Chapter 15

-
Chapter 15: 10 Questions to Ask about a Novel Summary : Richard Peck was a well known author who made many contributions to the modern young adult literature world.  He composed a list of 10 pertinent questions that can be asked to entice readers to look further into the story being read.  This list allows readers to delve deeper and attain a broader understanding of the piece of literature being read. Here are the ten questions to ask about a novel: What would the story be like if the main character were of the opposite sex? Why is the story set where it is? If you were to film the story, would you use black and white or color and why? If you could not use all of the characters, which would you eliminate and why? How is the main character different from you? Would this story make a good TV series? Why/why not? What one thing in the story has happened to you? Reread the first paragraph of Chapter 1.  What is in it to make you read on? If not...
Read more

Instagram, Facebook "Pages", and Twitter

-
Image
We're all familiar with the big names of social media; Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.  But have you considered one platform might be better than another, based on how you want your information to be perceived to your consumers?  For example, you might be marketing your business, sharing family photos, contributing your political views, or simply forwarding witty memes to your friends.  Whatever your weapon of choice, there's a perfect social media platform to fit your needs.  Keep reading to meet your match! Instagram is extremely popular amongst teenagers.  They mainly use it to showcase their photography skills or share some type of art form with their online community.  They also create bit.ly links that takes their viewers to a YouTube account that has tutorials or silly videos they've produced.  You are only able to post links in the bio section of your profile, so you'll always come across the #linkinbio hashtag for promoting videos (or eve...
Read more