"The past is another country - a very different world -
and historical readers want to see, smell and touch what it was like living
there."
― Sara Sheridan
― Sara Sheridan
Historical fiction and
nonfiction give readers a glimpse into “a very different world.” While the
lives of the characters may be fictional, the genre still
provides insight into the lifestyles and major events of different time periods.
The following historical fiction books are engaging reads and provide insightful glimpses into different worlds.
Al
Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko: Grades 5-8
I have visited Alcatraz, and this book captures the feel of the prison and shows life as a
prison worker’s kid. I hadn’t realized there were children on Alcatraz
before I read this book. But workers (doctors, prison
guards, etc.) lived with their families on Alcatraz in "three-story apartment
buildings, a handful of cottages or converted military housing" (CNN article).
The inmates were separated from the workers' children, but as shown in the
title of Al Capone Does My Shirts,
the inmates had an indirect influence on the Alcatraz children.
While the children didn’t have direct contact with the prisoners, the children
were always aware of the prisoners. For instance, in the book children
are only allowed to play on a small section of the island far away from the
prison wards.
 |
| Modern day view of Alcatraz. |
In addition to the book’s portrayal of Alcatraz, the
book also captures what it’s like growing up and transitioning to a new school. Moose wants to play baseball and fit in with the boys at school. How Moose conquers these problems is encouraging for people who have moved
into a new environment (even if they didn’t have to take a
boat to school from a notorious prison).
Fever
1793
by Laurie Halse Anderson: Grades 5-9
Summary: Mattie is 16 years old when the yellow fever
epidemic of 1793 hits Philadelphia. When Mattie’s mother falls ill, she makes Mattie flee the city with Mattie's grandfather. Mattie must then find a
way to survive the spreading sickness and panic before returning to
rescue her mother in the city.
I think it’s hard in today’s world of modern medicine
to imagine the horror and panic of an epidemic wiping out thousands of people
in mere months. We have scares like the Ebola crisis, but Ebola killed a small
number of people compared to diseases like malaria or yellow fever. Fever 1793 manages to capture the panic
that results from an epidemic and includes multiple historical facts. For example, when
Mattie returns to the city she finds African Americans
caring for the sick. Benjamin Rush,
a founding father and a doctor, believed African Americans couldn’t contract the disease and therefore asked
them to volunteer (read more here). While this may make Rush sound prejudiced, Rush was actually an prominent abolitionist (short biography here).
 |
| Benjamin Rush. |
I included a list of other historical fiction books below.
The Midwife’s Apprentice (Medieval England) by Karen Cushman: Grades 5-7
Crispin: The Cross of Lead
(14th century England) by Avi: Grades 4-7
The Witch of Blackbird Pond (America in 1687) by Elizabeth George Speare: Grades 5-8
Johnny Tremain
(American Revolution) by Esther Hoskins Forbes: Grades 5-7
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (Great Depression) by Mildred D. Taylor: Grades 5-7
Out of the Dust
(Great Depression) by Karen Hesse: Grades 5 and up
*Out
of the Dust is written in free-verse poetry rather than novel form.
I visited Alcatraz when I was in elementary school. I remember the tour of the prison quite well, but I don't remember them ever telling us that there were children on the island. I remember seeing the cells and cots of prisoners, but I don't remember seeing living quarters for workers. I also remember the walk up to the prison from the dock because my sister sprained her ankle and she got to ride a golf cart when I didn't. It boggles my mind that there were children living on an island with well-known criminals and prisoners that were considered to be extremely dangerous and violent. Alcatraz was the prison for the prison system.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.alcatrazhistory.com/famous.htm
That makes me think of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, though. Nazis lived in homes close to concentration camps. I remember the mother in the movie getting upset because of the smoke from the burning flesh of prisoners. I wonder if mothers got upset when their husbands moved their families to the island like the mother did in the movie.
I think that most of the living quarters for non-prisoners are falling apart (the warden’s house is a ruin now), so the tour may not mention the families at Alcatraz simply because their living quarters aren’t on the tour. Like you said, though, Alcatraz was a prison for dangerous criminals, so I think the focus is always on the prisoners rather than the prison guards and their families. But if you look up the non-prisoners on Alcatraz, the families had their own little community on the island. I am curious about the mothers now, as the articles I looked at talked about the children but not the parents. I like that you mentioned The Boy in Striped Pajamas, as it looks at a horrific event through a child’s viewpoint. I think Al Capone Does My Shirts has a similar approach, though in this case it’s not looking at the holocaust but at what life is like growing up near a prison. Though Moose is older than the character in The Boy in Striped Pajamas, so it doesn’t feel like a very young child is speaking in Al Capone Does My Shirts.
DeleteI had no idea there were children on Alcatraz! Although, my knowledge comes exclusively from pop culture references and the movie "The Rock." I think it is great that there are books for children about prisons in general, because there are so many children that have to grow up knowing one or more of their parents are in jail. I think letting children know that they are okay, that they are not situation-ally alone is vital. I remember my elementary school library had "Fever" but I never read it. I remember it was recommended by our librarian, so it is exciting to see children are still finding it popular.
ReplyDeleteI liked your point that the book is also applicable to children whose parents may be in jail. One thing about the book is that it doesn’t try to scare children by making prison seem like a horrible place with abusive guards. Al Capone Does My Shirts does show that prison isn’t a vacation and includes a prison rebellion, but the point of the book isn’t to scare people straight. This could be because the book isn’t about life inside the jail but rather what it’s like growing up around the jail and seeing the prisoners. My librarian also recommended Fever 1793 to me when I was a kid, and I think it’s still recommended today by librarians because it’s a Newberry Honor book. I like recommending older books because children have so many new books the librarians recommend to them, which means there’s a good chance that children haven’t read the fantastic books from our childhood.
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