Historical Fiction in YA




I can’t tell you when I started to love reading. The things I do know are that my teachers and parents taught me to read, and encouraged me to. In first grade I spent time reading my first chapter book instead of playing with all the toys. From that point on, every teacher I had encouraged me to always keep a book stacked in the right corner of my desk. Free reading time. I guess old habits die hard, because when I got to middle school, I was the one of few who still had a book on my desk.

From an early age, I became addicted to historical fiction. Truly strange for such a young kid, in my opinion. It started with books in a collection called Dear America. I was an ambitious kid when it came to collections and series. That being said, I had read through A to Z Mysteries and countless Nancy Drew books. So after those books, I moved into the corner where all the Dear America books were stacked on the bottom row. That corner of the library that no one touched became mine.

One of my first favorite books was Someone Named Eva by Joan Wolf. I’ve probably read it three times, and it is due for a reread soon. It was a book about World War II, about a girl in Czechoslovakia. This girl was truly the strongest I had read about up to that point in my life. And since then, I've had a connection with stories from the past. Historical fiction and historical nonfiction books are still some of my favorites today. 

Here’s the part where I want to share my opinion.

 I think that there is a lack of historical fiction books in Young Adult literature today. I personally would love to see more. 

There are definitely lots of YA historical fiction books that touched people and are loved and appreciated in almost every Goodreads review. Authors like Ruta Sepetys and Markus Zusak have so much talent and are well known in the Young Adult community. If you tried to name another YA historical fiction author, you might name another one or two before you falter. There is so much to love about historical fiction. For me, here are some of the reasons I think that the YA community would benefit from seeing more of it!

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We are getting more books discussing current issues. (Sorry, off topic. Bare with me for a minute.) I love that these types of books are growing in popularity and importance in Young Adult literature! Instead of just being a good book, these types of books can also be thought-provoking and encourage people to get more information on the topics discussed. Over the past couple years, so many good discussions have popped up within the book lover's community. These books have made us not only better readers, but better informed on current issues.

To get back on track, I want to say the cheesiest thing possible: We can learn from history. We learn from past mistakes. We see all the ways we messed up in the past. We try not to repeat those in the present, or do anything that could result in the same disastrous way. There are trends that we now recognize. So what I would like to see in addition to books focusing on today’s issues are books that warn us on how to handle them. While the past's issues and today's are not the same, we can still see the parallels. If we want to avoid past mistakes, I think it’s important to acknowledge those mistakes and learn about them.

For this reason, I think that it’s important we have books from the past that scare us. We need to be scared so we can make a better future. 

I think there is a unique connection we feel between characters that have lived before us. Personally, I think it can connect you to your heritage more. As for myself, I had great grandparents that were both German and Jewish. Reading about the two world wars gives me a great insight to what my great grandparents went through, since I never got to talk to them about it myself. These books tell some of the stories I wish they could’ve told me. 

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 I’m just saying that as a reader that loves history, I wish it was more represented in YA literature. There are so many special elements of literature that only appear in historical fiction, and I would love to see more of them.

If you agree or have a similar opinion about things you wish were more present in the YA books these days, let me know! Hopefully we can help each other find recommendations for the genres we may be looking for. For now, I’ve listed some more historical fiction books for you to check out! Also, check my Recommendations page for Historical Fiction and Children’s Books sections to find some historical books I love! 


Lots of love, 

                      Ellie



Note: Most the these are children's/middle grade. Having only gotten into YA books a year or two ago, I haven't had the chance to get through many YA and adult books, but I'm hoping to read more soon! I will definitely make a new list after I've read more, but if you know any younger kids, I'd definitely recommend these books to start! 

https://www.goodreads.com/series/82304-sisters-in-time <--This is also a Christian book series, as the girls in the story are Christian

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