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| Blogger/author Chris Eboch |
In honor of Women's History Month, I wanted to cover some
middle grade historical fiction that included real women from history. But how
does one find such offerings?
Cleopatra is certainly popular in historical fiction for
various ages. Several middle grade novels on this GoodReads list of “YA
& Middle Grade Historical Fiction set in Ancient Egypt” feature her.
Queen Hatshepsut also shows up, and Pharaoh's Daughter: A Novel of Ancient Egypt
by Julius Lester tells the story of Moses with a focus
on his sister, mother, and the Egyptian princess who adopts him. I've read a
few of these novels, but none recently enough to give a good review. I'm
assuming mileage may vary in regards to historical accuracy.
The Royal Diaries
series also features Cleopatra along with many other real-life princesses from
around the world throughout history. Here's a list of the
books from GoodReads.
Far more middle grade historical novels feature strong fictional
girls in a realistic setting. Teachers and librarians are likely familiar with
many of these, including Out of the Dust
by Karen Hess, The Mighty Miss Malone
by Christopher Paul Curtis, and Esperanza
Rising
by Pam Muñoz Ryan. These three are all set during the Great
Depression but have wildly different characters and styles; find more titles on
this GoodReads list: “Young
Adult & Middle Grade Fiction Set During the Great Depression.”
Many other historical eras are represented in historical
fiction with strong female characters. Consider the Revolutionary War novels Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson and Sophia’s War: A Tale of the Revolution
by Avi. Dash by Kirby Larson and Number the Stars by Lois Lowry are among
the offerings set during World War II. As a bonus, several of these feature
diverse characters: a black slave girl in Chains,
a Japanese American girl in Dash, and
a Jewish friend in Number the Stars.
Bookworm for Kids lists these titles and many more
(including many with male main characters) on its Historical Fiction
page. Keene Public Library of New Hampshire offers "The Best in
Historical Fiction for Young People” with pages for different regions of
the world. (The Mayan Culture list features my novel The
Well of Sacrifice!)
Caroline Starr Rose
takes readers to a Kansas prairie homestead in May B., and all the way back to 1587 in Virginia for Blue Birds. Fellow blogger Jennifer
Bohnhoff features strong girls near Gettysburg in The Bent Reed, and in occupied France in 1940 in Code: Elephants on the Moon.
And of course, a couple of my novels take readers to the
distant past. The Eyes of Pharaoh is set in ancient Egypt while The
Well of Sacrifice is set in the last days of a great Mayan city in the ninth
century.
Do you have any
suggestions for great middle grade historical fiction with strong female
characters? Are any of them based on real people? Let's celebrate Women's History Month! #wmnhist #whm
Chris Eboch writes fiction and nonfiction for all ages, with
several novels for ages nine and up. The Eyes of Pharaoh is an
action-packed mystery set in ancient Egypt. The Genie’s
Gift draws on the mythology of 1001 Arabian Nights to take readers on a
fantasy adventure. In The Well of Sacrifice, a Mayan girl
in ninth-century Guatemala rebels against the High Priest who sacrifices anyone
challenging his power. Learn more at www.chriseboch.com
or her Amazon page.
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