Historical Fiction

Historical Fiction genre

The Castaways

Tom Tin and his four convict companions are only too glad when they come upon a deserted ship. The boys clamber aboard, not knowing whether they’ve been saved or set on a course toward doom. But after rescuing two men stranded on a melting iceberg, Tom begins to suspect that these unsavory sailors are dangerous castaways from this very vessel. The more Tom questions the men, the more they dislike him. So, when Tom overhears them plotting to get rid of him, he knows they mean it. But the other boys don’t feel threatened – at least not until the sailors attempt to sell them as slaves, a decision that ends with death for some and with Tom sailing the ship home to England. Soon Tom discovers that he has to cast away every ill-intentioned companion from his voyage home before he can truly be free.

The adventure that began in The Convicts and continued in The Cannibals has its conclusion in The Castaway.

Afrika

For thirteen-year-old Kim, travel to South Africa with her journalist mother will mark the end of her childhood and the beginning of a remarkable journey. Expecting nothing more than three months in her mother’s homeland, Kim comes to terms with the country’s diverse and often shocking history. The Truth and Reconciliation Hearings in post-apartheid South Africa open her eyes to the tragedy and brutality of its segregationist policies.

Kim’s first meeting with her relatives, her contact with schoolmates and cousins, bring her face-to-face with the realization that she is not as removed from this powerful story as she thought. As her mother struggles with her past, Kim becomes more and more determined to unlock the secret that has always kept her from knowing her father. Helped by the young son of a long-time family servant, whose own father was a casualty of Apartheid history, Kim eventually unlocks her mystery and brings her mother and herself to their own truth and reconciliation.

Sword Song

This is the swashbuckling story of Bjarni, a Viking swordsman.  Banished from his home for a murder he didn’t intend to commit, Bjarni takes up a new life as a mercenary. He journeys from England to Dublin, and then to the islands off the west coast of Scotland. There he meets the man who is to shape the course of his life for years to come, a life that will lead him from boyhood to manhood–fighting among the clan chiefs from the west coast of Scotland in feuds as bitter and bloody as can be imagined.

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

Johanna’s grandfather founded the largest clothing store in town and built up his wealth with his own hands–at least that’s the family legend. But when Johanna travels to Israel for a class project, she finds out that the family of Meta Levin originally owned the store. She learns that her grandfather legally acquired the company during the Nazi regime according to the anti-Semitic laws of the Third Reich. Johanna is worried: her family’s wealth is obviously founded on injustice. Should she keep silent, or should she wake the sleeping dogs?

Honey Cake

For David Nathan, Copenhagen is the most beautiful city in the world, even with Nazis in the streets. But life has changed since the soldiers arrived. His parents are always worried. And his older sister goes to school early and comes home late. Sometimes she doesn’t come home at all! David’s father is a baker, and since the war began, butter and cream are very hard to find. So David is amazed when his father makes a “special order” of cream-filled chocolate eclairs. But when no one comes to pick up the eclairs, David is asked to run a very special errand. It’s an errand that will change his life  forever.

The Time Thief

When an attempt to bring Peter and Kate back to their own time is bungled, Peter finds himself stranded in 1763 while The Tar Man, a villainous eighteenth-century criminal, returns with Kate to twenty-first-century London.

Laika

Laika was the abandoned puppy destined to become Earth’s first space traveler. This is her journey. Along with Laika, there is Korolev, once a political prisoner, now a driven engineer at the top of the Soviet space program, and Yelena, the lab technician responsible for Laika’s health and life. Abadzis gives life to a pivotal moment in modern history, casting light on the hidden moments of deep humanity behind history. This graphic novel is a blend of fact and fiction dealing with the first animal to be sent into space. He was on the Russian Sputnik 2 in November 1957. Laika would die on that trip.

The Redheaded Princess

Growing up, Elizabeth fears she can never be Queen. Although she is the King’s daughter, no woman can ever hope to rule over men in England, especially when her mother has been executed for treason. For all her royal blood, Elizabeth’s life is fraught with danger and uncertainty. Sometimes she is welcome in the royal court; other times she is cast out into the countryside. With her position constantly changing, the Princess must navigate a sea of shifting loyalties and dangerous affections. At stake is her life—for beheading is not uncommon among the factions that war for the Crown. With the vivid human touch that has made her one of the foremost writers of historical fiction, Ann Rinaldi brings to life the heart and soul of the young Elizabeth I. It’s a portrait of a great leader as she may have been as she found her way to the glorious destiny that lay before her.

The Fall of the Amazing Zalindas (Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars)

This series provides a unique new twist on Sherlock Holmes by having him assisted by a band of devoted boys, street urchins who love to solve mysteries, called the Baker Street Irregulars. These boys go everywhere, see everything, overhear everyone undetected.  In this exciting tale, Wiggins, Ozzie, Simon, and the rest–with the aid of Pilar, a gypsy girl–help Sherlock Holmes solve the case of the deaths of the Amazing Walendas,  a family of circus tightrope walkers.