As I mentioned in my last post , I don’t like historical fiction. I
don’t like to dismiss a genre out of hand, but what I can say is that
when historical fiction reverts to traits that make me hate it, I hate
it. What do I hate? Books that feel like they are a slave to their
research, rather than a good story in which the research might make the
facts accurate. Books in which I feel the point of the author/publisher
was to add a fictional account to a curriculum.
It seems like there are loads of historical fiction titles coming out for a high school aged audience. Just recently I’ve read books about slavery, Henry VIII, World War II, and medieval England.
Reading Rants has a wonderful ongoing list called Historical Fiction for Hipsters. She mentions why many teens find historical fiction boring (it IS boring, and dry, and about a topic they aren’t interested in. And it’s likely they are only reading it because they’ve been assigned.)
So who are reading these books? Who are these books marketed for? Of course, there are exceptions, such as the Libba Bray titles , and The Luxe series. I would love to hear from teens who read historical fiction by choice, and why they might like it.
It seems like there are loads of historical fiction titles coming out for a high school aged audience. Just recently I’ve read books about slavery, Henry VIII, World War II, and medieval England.
Reading Rants has a wonderful ongoing list called Historical Fiction for Hipsters. She mentions why many teens find historical fiction boring (it IS boring, and dry, and about a topic they aren’t interested in. And it’s likely they are only reading it because they’ve been assigned.)
So who are reading these books? Who are these books marketed for? Of course, there are exceptions, such as the Libba Bray titles , and The Luxe series. I would love to hear from teens who read historical fiction by choice, and why they might like it.