*Topic 5 of LS 5623, Young Adult Literature, focuses on Historical fiction, Nonfiction, and Biography.  The following novels are examples of these types of genres in young adult literature. 

 

Lasky, Kathryn. Blood Secret. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2004. ISBN 0-06-000065-1

 

“I knew that if I was to tell this story, I would have to tell the whole story---the centuries upon centuries saturated by blood.  This story could not be told as a day in the life of the Inquisition, nor could it be the story of simply one family within one generation.  The crushing weight of time would have to be as significant as any character.  It took me ten years of thinking to figure out how I could try to encompass this dimension of time within a single book” (page 246). ~Kathryn Lasky

 

Blood Secret is a historical narrative that explores the persecution of Jewish followers dating back to 1391 during the Spanish Inquisition. Told through the voice of fourteen-year-old Jerry Luna and her ancestors of the past, the format of this story incorporates present day dialogue and dialogue of the past to develop the plot of the story.  Jerry, a selective mute, has been abandoned by her mother Millie Moon.  She lives in numerous Catholic charity homes until her 90-year-old great-great aunt Constanza de Luna is located.  Constanza lives in an old adobe house in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  She has a successful bakery and she still bakes her bread the old fashion way, in ovens out doors called hornos.  Constanza is active and practices the ritual of her faith, Catholicism, on a regular bases.

 

At her great-great aunt’s, Jerry begins to appreciate the calm and secure environment that she is now apart of.  She discovers her voice and an old trunk in her great-great aunt’s cellar.  The trunk contains items from Jerry’s ancestors.  Each item has a child’s voice that guides Jerry back into time and allows her to see the persecution that members of her past family endured because they wanted to practice their faith of Judaism.  She learns that her ancestors had often fled their native homelands and converted to Catholicism to survive.  As Jerry connects with her own past and faith, “she is able to face her own demons and liberate not only herself, but also future generations of her family from the long chain of suffering and silence” (from Amazon.Com review).

Kathryn Lasky has created a believable story in which readers will empathize and be fascinated with Jerry, her aunt, and ancestors.  Lasky makes good use of strong characterization when depicting Jerry and great-great Constanza.  She also refers to historical figures such as Christopher Columbus and Queen Isabella in realistic manner.  Lasky also refers to religious historical figures in the same manner.  At the back of the book, she provides readers with a family tree diagram of Jerry’s ancestry. 

 

The plot of story is somewhat complicated, due to the large span of time the author tries to include. “This is a fascinating story told somewhat awkwardly---not because of the language, but because of the mechanism that drives the plot.” (Claire Rosser-Find Articles.com) In the Epilogue, Lansky explains why she chose to tell this story with a time travel theme.  She also provides an author’s note that explains how she became interested in creating a novel that reflects the persecution of Jewish people of Spanish descent.  Readers of this novel interested in learning more about Jewish people of Spanish descent can find additional resources provided by Kathryn Lasky in the back of the book on the “For Further Reading” page. 

 

References:

www.amazon.com Blood Secret review accessed 22 November 2004

Harmon, Linda. Lincoln Public Library District.

http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2004/Nov/03/Features_new/booklook.shtml accessed 22 November 2004

Rosser, Claire. Find Articles.com. http://www.findarticles.com accessed 22 November 2004

 

 

 

Meltzer, Milton. Ain’t Gonna Study War No More: The Story of America’s Peace Seekers. New York: Landmark Books, 2002. ISBN 0-375-92260-1

 

Milton Meltzer’s Ain’t Gonna Study War No More: The Story of America’s Peace Seekers is a powerful exploration of the history of Americans who have advocated against war in a nonviolent way.  .  Written in an age appropriate narrative for students in grades nine through twelve, Meltzer sets the theme of his book with an old southern gospel song called “Down by the Riverside”.  This song contains the repeat verse “Ain’t Gonna Study War No More”. 

From his first chapter, entitled “About Courage”, Meltzer writes, “They denounced war because it destroys life, corrupts society, and violates morality.”(page 3)

 

Written in seventeen parts with accompanying illustrations or photographs of famous and not so famous individuals who have spoken against war based on their religious, social, or political beliefs, Meltzer provides the reader of his book with some statistical data and an organized chronological reference to war resistance in the United States beginning with the Colonial period to present day.  Ain’t Gonna Study War No More: The Story of America’s Peace Seekers also contains a bibliography, index, photo credits, a discussion guide, a question and answer section from the author.  There is also an about the author section which gives facts about the author that include some of the awards and honors he has recieved.  The bibliography contains a note from the author on which books from the bibliographic list contains an even more extensive reference list for further reading.   A ten-question discussion guide, written by Susan Geye, follows the last chapter in the book. 

 

When asked if there was a significant incident or experience that motivated him to write the book, Melton Meltzer replied, “Yes, the Vietnam war, the longest and most controversial in the twentieth century.” (page 259) From the back cover of Ain’t Gonna Study War No More: The Story of America’s Peace Seekers, a reviewer for Interracial Books for Children Bulletin stated that Meltzer book is “Uniquely valuable for thinking people of all ages who must come to terms with their own responsibilities and actions.” First published in 1985, Meltzer revised and updated the information for its 2002 publication.  This book is a powerful read for young adults as well as adults.  

 

References

www.amazon.com  Ain’t Gonna Study War No More: The Story of America’s Peace Seekers review accessed 22 November 2004

www.randomhouse.com Ain’t Gonna Study War No More: The Story of America’s Peace Seekers review accessed 22 November 2004

http://search.barnesandnoble.com Ain’t Gonna Study War No More: The Story of America’s Peace Seekers review accessed 22 November 2004

 

 

Paterson, Katherine. Lyddie. New York: Lodestar Books, 1991. ISBN 0-525-67338-5

 

“The bear had been their undoing, though at the time they had all laughed.” (page 1)

 

Set in the mid-nineteenth century, Katherine Paterson’s Lyddie is the story of a young Vermont farm girl named Lyddie Worthen and the obstacles she encounters as she tries to save her family farm.  Abandoned by her father, Lyddie lives with her ailing mother, brother Charlie, and two younger sisters.  One day a huge black bear enters their cabin as Lyddie is preparing the evening meal.  She manages to distract the bear as she and her family escape to the loft of the cabin.  The appearance of the bear convinces Lyddie’s mother that this is a sign that the world is coming to an end, so she leaves Lyddie and her brother Charlie in charge of the family farm and head for her sister and brother-in-law’s farm with her two youngest daughters.  Lyddie and her brother continue to work the farm in hopes of acquiring enough money to off their father’s debt.  However, after several months of living along at the farm, Lyddie’s mother writes and tells her two children that she has sold their cow and horse, leased their farm land, and made arrangement for both Lyddie and her brother to work in order to pay off the debt that have father accumulated.  Lyddie goes to work in tavern and her brother is sent to work at a mill. This marks the beginning of Lyddie’s journey into servitude and self-discovery.  Travel serves as “a metaphor for Lyddie’s spiritual growth” (Zaidman, Spring 1994). 

 

 

 

Lyddie works hard for a year at the tavern and during this time, she realizes that she is no more than a slave working day after day and never seeing any money for efforts.  Even during this difficult period Lyddie dreamed of a better life where and her family would be reunited.  Lyddie leaves the tavern and begins a second journey in her life to Lowell, Massachusetts where she gains employment with Concord Corporation mill.  At the mill, a worker named Diana Goss befriends Lyddie and teaches her how to operate the looms at the mill.  During her time at the mill, Lyddie evolves into an individual who is driven solely by her desire to make money and return to her farm home in Vermont.  This all changes when she has an accident at the mill and her sister Rachel is left by their uncle in her care.  At this point, Lyddie transforms from the young illiterate farm girl from Vermont into a literate young woman capable of taking care of herself and being her own person. “The bear that she had thought of all these years was outside herself, but now, truly knew was in her own narrow spirit. She would stare down all the bears!” (page 181)

 

Katherine Paterson’s Lyddie depicts a strong protagonist overcoming economic and social obstacles during a time period in which most women did not work outside of the home (Zaidman, Spring 1994).  A reviewer from Kirkus writes, “A remarkable portrait of an untutored but intelligent young woman making her way against fierce odds.” Patterson has written a well-researched narrative that has “strong characterization and a solid sense of time and place” (School Library Journal).  Readers of this novel can find at the end of the story a thank you note from the author that contains a list of some of the books and publications in which she referred to when writing this story.  Paterson had written a novel that “offers today’s adolescent reader an opportunity to learn from historical fiction.” (Zaidman, Spring 1994)

 

References

Book of the Month. http://www.mhhe.com/socscience/education/kidlit/bom/aprilbom.html review accessed 22 November 2004

Zaidman, Laura. The Alan Review. Spring 1994. http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/ALAN/spring94/Zaidman.html review accessed 22 November 2004

 

 

Gantos, Jack. Hole in My Life. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002. ISBN 0-374-39988-3

 

“This true tale of the worst year in the author’s life will be a big surprise for his many fans...This is a story of mistakes, dues, redemption, and finally success at what he always wanted to do: write books.”—Starred Kirkus Reviews

 

Hole in My Life by Jack Gantos is a narrative autobiography that chronicles the events in Mr. Gantos life which lead him to prison and ultimately to his career as a writer.  The narrative begins with Gantos giving details about his prison picture found on the verso of the title page.  From this point, he introduces the reader to prison life and provides background information on his father whom he refers to throughout the story.  This story is written in three parts and the sequence of events in the story move from “one intense moment to the next as Gantos pieces together the story of his restless final year of high school, his short-lived career as smuggler, and his time in prison.” (From the inside cover of book jacket)

 

Jack Gantos has written an honest account of why he chose to committee a crime, what prison life is like, and how he evolved from wanting to be a writer to writing.  Gantos credit his time spent in prison as a turning point in his life.  “Ironically, in spite of all the fear and remorse and self-loathing, being locked up in prison is where I fully realized I had to change my life for the better.” (page 7) Hole in My Life is not a didactic tale, but rather it provides the reader with an opportunity to read about the behavior and choices the author made prior to his coming of age and realizing how precious one’s freedom is.   This is a powerful coming of age story in which young adult readers or adult readers are can learn first hand how an individual who made a serious mistake and overcame numerous obstacles was able to turn his life around in a positive way.  Readers of this story will certainly benefit from the experiences of Jack Gantos.

 

References

www.amazon.com  Hole in My Life. review accessed 22 November 2004

Klausner, Harriet. Allreaders.com. http://www.allreaders.com/Topics/Info 10955.asp review accessed 22 November 2004