(Part 2) Reddit mentions: The best historical fiction books for children

I love this idea! This is really difficult to do, though.

I looked through my lists of books and didn't find any that started with these words, but I combed through Amazon and found some. Mind you, I haven't read these, so I can't recommend them or not.

Also, for "marry", it is really hard to find books that start with that word spelled like that unless they're called something like "Marry me" which might kind of give it away. Maybe go with "Mary" or "Merry" for the spelling? Just a thought.

Anyway, books! I selected a bunch, some might have funny titles. I didn't know what kind of a vibe you were going for, so I figured I'd throw out what I found, silly or not.

Will

Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?

Will You Still Love Me in the Morning?

Will and Me: How Shakespeare Took Over My Life

Will You Marry Me? For obvious reasons, if you use this one, I'd recommend giving the books in reverse order (Me, Marry, You,Will)-- or if you want to sound like Yoda.


You

You Suck: A Love Story This one is by Christopher Moore, a hilarious author.

You Only Live Twice This is a James Bond novel

You Can't Go Home Again This is a classic, and is supposed to be amazing. I've never read it though. :/

You Shall Know Them This looks really philosophical and strange.

You Never Know With Women Harlequin cheap novel. Didn't know the sense of humor, could be funny. Har har.

You Get So Alone at Times That It Just Makes Sense Bukowski.


Mary

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Warning! Linked book is abridged. Booo.
Mary Barton Never heard of it, but Amazon calls it a classic.
Mary This one is by Nabokov.


Merry

The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood

The Merry Wives of Windsor Shakespeare.


Marry

Marry Your Baby Daddy Tee hee.

Marry Anerley This is large print and has no reviews. :/

Marry Me This one is by John Updike. I've never read anything by him, but he is supposed to be pretty good.


Me

Me Talk Pretty One Day Someone else suggested this and I second it. If you haven't read it, it is a book of short bits by the author about struggling with his speech in Paris. It is really good.

Me Tanner, You Jane Suspense thriller? Never heard of it.

Me Again People with amnesia. This book has really good reviews.

Me and Emma This one also has really good reviews.

Me! Okay, this one is a kids' book, but depending on personalities, it could work, so I threw it in here.


I hope this helps and that someone has read some of these books and can tell you if they are any good. Either way, let us know what you end up doing!!

It took me a really long time to really learn how to read/feel comfortable with reading. Writing took me even longer. But my father was an editor and he used to read to me all the time and sit with me while I struggled to read back to him.

My favorite books I remember him reading to me/reading with him were:

• Amelia Bedelia- when I was younger.
  
• I also made him read the Giving Tree to me a lot! Terribly sad book.
  
• the Harry Potter series(we both got bored after the 4th one but I finished them by myself).
  
• The Hobbit
  
• The Land of Oz(the Wizard of Oz was not as exciting to me)
  
  So, this is my list for the kids who have more trouble with keeping up, or who are too shy to read aloud. To ma' homies with the LD's. Or the ones who just like awesome stories, regardless of the age group they're directed towards.
  
  I don't think I really started reading on my own till 5th grade. Which is when I found some awesome book called Anastasia(I never watched the movie before I read this, but I dont think its anything like the Disney film)
  
  I found "The Royal Diaries series - Anastasia" book. It may be the first "real" chapter book I ever started and finished on my own, without anyone forcing it down my throat. I loved it. It changed everything because I remember attempting to read all of the books for the Newberry Award nominations like all the super fast readers were after that. Which led to me finding these AMAZING books. They may be the greatest books ever for little girls with ADHD or "memory retrieval" problems, as I had been diagnosed at the time. "A Mango Shaped Space" and "So B. It"
  
  After those, I came to the conclusion that reading is awesome. I read Eragon, I found the Maximum Ride series - that had a blind character that had super powers and was cool. I found that characters with a disability changed my whole perspective, because my father is blind and I had just found out I had a learning disability as well. I think that having characters to relate to was really key.
  
  
  
  I read Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series long after middle school... I read up to the 4th book. Those were great! Again, Percy Jackson's "Dyslexia" was taken and turned into this wonderful piece of relatable fiction(perhaps causing more kids to flip their desks over and say-"I'm a demi-god so I don't care about books", but they're at least exciting enough to get kids to that point of involvement with the characters)
  
  
  So, what brought me to love books were books with female protagonists. But as I got older it was harder to find awesome books that. Once I discovered YA novels and cheesy romance, I couldn’t stop. It has now lead to my demise and I read fanfiction on my phone. But before I found all of that, Kate Brian’s Megan Meade's Guide to the McGowan Boys
  really got me to like YA. And then I found spy series and fantasy books with female protagonists
  
  The Squad
  and the Gallagher Girls
  Were for slightly younger girls.
  The Hunger Games and the Uglies series were my favorites at the end of my time with YA novels.
  
  I will try to update this list. I have to go now but I hope this was helpful.
  
  TL;DR link to a goodreads list I put together

But specifically why the hate on princesses?

You know some of the stories are awesome, uplifting, and morally just. Girls who beat the odds and with determination, and hard work become the best versions of themselves.

For example, Cinderella could be a story about some girl who just looks pretty and gets the guy at the ball...or it could be a story about how staying true to your self, being the best you can be, and showing love and compassion to those who hurt you. A "turn the other cheek" and "don't stoop to their level" morals. Mulan isn't just about saving your family and country from the huns, its about not limiting yourself to a preconceived role based on your sex. She defies her culture and pushes the boundaries of what it means to be a women. Belle doesn't go for the man just because he is handsome, she wants someone who will respect her and her values - family, friends, and life long learning. Gaston is ugly to her, and the beast lovely. Beauty and the Beast tells us its what on the inside that counts. Plus all the modern princesses are much stronger and diverse characters - from Frozen, to Brave and even Tangled these are women who don't fit perfectly into the western notion of what it means to be a women - its ok to be different.

In a culture dominated by men, whose roles are strong and pervasive its kinda nice to have women take the centre stage instead of being the supporting role. Who cares if they wear frilly dresses? If you still don't like the idea of disney princesses then maybe you could read to your daughter about real princesses. I loved these books as a young girl and they got me really interested in history. Plus it shows real women defying real cultural stereotypes, it is uplifting as a young female reader. One of the best parts is that these books have made me appreciate just how important these women were to their respective cultures. For example, I visited the Cheomseongdae in South Korea because I read Sondok's Royal Diary Book. Seondeok was a queen of the Silla kingdom and she built this stargazing platform. Pretty impressive for someone who is "just" a princess.

TL;DR: Make the princesses into heros, not bimbos. Teach your daughter to question the moral of the story. How were these women strong? brave? true to themselves?

I'm a big fan of historical fiction. In my mind it serves the same focus as movies based on history--it's an introduction to a time period and may spur someone to learn more about that time period. Even historical fiction that's mostly wrong can do this.

As a kid Johnny Tremain helped to get me started on the American Revolution.

A little later Red Badge of Courage got me intensely interested in the Civil War.

To Kill A Mockingbird is both a novel of the Depression and of the historical Deep South. Not normally regarded as historical fiction, but in a way it is. Steinbeck is probably best known for The Grapes of Wrath (another bit of historical fiction about the Depression), but I think that his book In Dubious Battle tells a more interesting story of how Communism was an important part of labor movements during this time period.

Harry Mazer's The Last Bomber does a pretty good job of telling what it was like for bomber crews and is told from the perspective of a 15 year old boy who runs away to join the Air Force.

Likewise Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls is regarded as a "classic" but most people seem to forget that it's historical fiction about the Spanish Civil War.

I'm sure that Aubrey Martin will get brought up. Love the series, but I actually got into those long after my interest in the Age of Sail. I read Bernard Cornwall's Azincourt recently and found it a fantastic bit of historical fiction that does a pretty good job laying out the basics of Henry V's campaign. I can't speak to the accuracy of his other historical fiction because I haven't read it, but I know that his [Richard Sharpe](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharpe_(novel_series) series (featuring a British soldier during the Napoleonic Wars) is incredibly popular and was turned into a tv series featuring Sean Bean as Sharpe.

Eric Flint's 1632 is a bit of counter-factual fun (what if a mining town from West Virginia was dropped into the middle of the Thirty Years' War), but it helped me get interested in that time period. Of course the later books in the series don't work so well for history since it diverges so much from real events, but I find that a good counter-factual history requires a thorough understanding of the time period you're diverging from. Plus there's a great section in there on Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, a fascinating character in his own right.

There's more, but yeah I absolutely think historical fiction is an important part of teaching about history. History is more than facts and figures, it's the story of our past. What better way to tell that story than actually writing a story?

I'm sure others will have perhaps better suggestions but when I was in elementary school in the mid 90s I really enjoyed:

• The Ameican Girls Series. It's a series of books detailing the lives of a girl from different historical periods. My favorite character was Molly from the WWII period. I ended up reading the entire series, which was only 5 charecters (so 20ish books as each character has like 4 books of their own) and it has since grown, but I was so proud of myself at the time for doing that. I haven't read the books again as an adult so it's hard to say if they are healthy from a feminist perspective. The most harmful thing could be too much mindless patriotism but that didn't leave a lasting effect on me though. I think they did give me some mind expanding historical perspective and enriched my ability to see others point of view.
  
  
• Matilda. I highly recommend this one. It's undoubtedly a good book for a growing girl and especially from an empowering feminist perspective. It was the first book I read where I remember really getting into and identifying with a charecter. I gave a copy to my 8 year old cousin and she enjoyed it too. Cannot say enough good things about this book. Recommend.
  
  ...wow I feel like I wrote a lot for children's book recommendation! It was nice to reminisce I guess. Good luck on finding a good book for your daughter! :)

As someone who adores video games, what he needs is comic books. I love to read immensely, but sometimes I just don't feel like dealing with words, so a simple storyline (or maybe super complex, depending) with bright pictures is the greatest.

One of the most clever comic books/series I've ever come across is Asterix and Obelix. It's stories set in ancient Gaul and the shenanigans that happen. The funny thing is, the comics were originally written in French. Someone translated them into English, and you might think a lot of idiomatic/pun humor might have gotten lost but nope! Still witty and clever as ever.

They're completely clean (SFW, I mean) and totally amazing. I am way too attached to my collection or I'd send your stepson some.

Here is the first volume on Amazon. They're SO GOOD.

I don't read much historical fantasy, but I have read some and some more alternate history if you are in to that. I haven't read the one you spoke of in your post, so not sure exactly what balance of history and fantasy (or time period) you are looking for. However, I will list here for you many that I have read:

The Shadow of Albion - Andre Norton and Rosemary Edghill Alternate England

Black Ships - Jo Graham This one is about Troy. some romance

His Majesty's Dragon - Naomi Novik Napoleonic War with dragons.

Daughter of the Forest - Juliet Marillier The author says it isn't historical, but it is based somewhat on history/legend. Ireland as it is being exposed to Christianity. Based on The Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale "The Wild Swans" Definitely a good bit of romance in this one.

The Wild Swans - Peg Kerr Another based on the Anderson Fairy Tale. 2 stories in one. One set in the 1800 about a curse, and the other set in the 1980s about AIDS. Not my favorite, but an interesting parallel.

Bright Sword of Ireland - Juliene Osborne-McKnight This one is more mythic and definitely has "romance". It's about Mebd's daughter. Not my personal favorite, but the ending definitely stuck with me. Also deals with interactions with Christianity

Newton's Cannon - Gregory Keyes Okay, haven't read this one yet, but I've been meaning to get around to it.

Young Adult

Sorcery and Cecilia OR The Enchanted Chocolate Pot - Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer

A Matter of Magic - Patricia C. Wrede

A Great and Terrible Beauty - Libba Bray

These above are set in London/England in 1700-1900?. They are all relatively light reading.

The Fetch - Laura Whitcomb This one is set during the Russian Revolution. Teen love.

A Certain Slant of Light - Laura Whitcomb This one is set in the present day, but one of the main characters is a ghost from the late 1800s.

There're also quite a few novels in historical fantasy romance. But most of them are definitely more on the romance side.

*edited for formatting

My first novel is a historical fiction, but the real theme of the story is the main figuring out for themselves what it means to be a man and a good person. I wrote it in my early 20s when I was kind of going through that same self discovery process. So really the lessons the character learns are traits I think are important to being a good person and certainly the kind of person I strive to be. It's available here if you're super bored: https://www.amazon.com/Leader-Tribe-Nicholas-W-Fuller/dp/1480022489/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1523066890&sr=8-1&keywords=nicholas+w+fuller

My new book is more fun. There's still going to be some elements of character development that relate to my own personal development, but I won't be so heavy handed with it.

This book is a near future sci-fi story set in our own solar system. The main character is an Amish person (yes, that kind of Amish) on one of the moons of Mars. Earth is no longer inhabitable due to human fuckery and his amish colony was set up near the end of Earth's habitability by people that went "what have we done?!"

Anyway, it's sort of a Forest Gump comedy of errors as he travels through the solar system on his Rumspringa and he decides the vast solar system is where he wants to be, not in the Amish colony. He also falls in love with a girl and with a dog - the dog is central to the comedy of errors - and becomes a VR porn star along the way.

I'm excited for this story. Writing a novel is hard, but it's a really fun creative outlet.

I read a ton as a kid, here are some suggestions!

• The Boxcar Children - 4 kids live in a boxcar and get adopted by a rich grandfather and have adventures
  
• The Three Investigators - three teen boys are amateur detectives, series ran from mid-60s to mid-80s
  
• The Francis Tucket Adventures series - a coming of age western
  
• Childhood of Famous Americans series - what it sounds like
  
  The biggest thing reading did for me was to expand my vocabulary and get better at recognizing good writing. Being able to journey in my mind to different situations, worlds and people was fun and I think made me more creative. Let him explore what he truly likes, don't shy away from educational illustrated books which can have fantastic visuals and as long as something is close to his comprehension level don't quit if there are big words it'll help him learn faster. Good luck!

1. Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher -- or really, almost anything by him. Good, rich characters, facing adversity. He was a family therapist and his writing feels authentic while touching on real issues.
   
   
2. Though everyone talks (rightfully) about The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (bonus: movie coming out, starring the girl from Divergent), Paper Towns is pretty phenomenal, well developed, current, etc. For new fiction, John Green is doing about as good a job as anyone managing the YA / Adult transition, introducing tough topics with good - not intimidating - writing.
   
   
3. Soldier's Heart by Gary Paulsen is short but an amazing look at war from a young kid's perspective. A good compliment to all those fluffy (though enjoyable) we will win the war if i find my boyfriend! books that are so popular....
   
   
4. Also,The Book Thief by Zusak. Because.... for just about every reason.
   
   
5. If you think you are going to have a hard time un-sticking from the fantasy thing - The Night Circus is a creative alternative with better writing than the others.
   
   
6. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime shifted my perspective through shifting the voice -- the main character is autistic. Having this sort of unique narrator was a first & helped teach me about the role of voice (helpful, when your favorite author winds up being Faulkner...)
   
   Of course there are others (non fiction: Krakauer, Hillenbrand, come to mind; deeper: Tim O'Brien, Saramago; more fantastic: Guy Kay, Herbert, etc. ) but, trying to stay within age range / contemporary, and gender neutral... that's where I started! if any of these seem like the right thread, let me know, and i can give you a bucket more.

I feel like if your daughter and I were the same age we would be best friends, she sounds exactly like how I was at her age.

The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen is wonderful, I read it at about her age. No sex.

John Green's books are amazing, but Looking For Alaska has a blow job part, and The Fault In Our Stars has sex. They are in no way explicit however, and I really would recommend that she read them, at least eventually, maybe at 12, because they're beautifully written and, I think, teach really valuable lessons (in fact, the blow job scene is awkward and uncomfortable and juxtaposed with a conversation that is emotionally intimate to demonstrate that you don't need sex and physical contact for emotional connection.)

I also remember reading Artemis Fowl when I was her age.

Other recommendations:
A Face in Every Window by Han Nolan

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

Cul de Sac Moon by Kimberley Clarke (my high school English Lit, Creative Writing and English AP teacher)

And when I was your daughter's age I was really, REALLY into The Royal Diaries series, my favourite being The Lady of Ch'iao Kuo and Elizabeth I.

EDIT: OH! And if she liked The Hunger Games I think she will LOVE The Giver series by Lois Lowry. And Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events might keep her occupied for a week or two, as well as the Chronicles of Narnia.

Always great to see children showing interest. 12 is certainly old enough to read and comprehend Homer, but like others have said, context will definitely be key. Regularly discussing it with her will likely help to give her background information and also just help her to enjoy it more. As for illustrated editions, this one is gorgeous. I gave it to my nephews (all under 10), and almost wish I had just kept it for myself.

https://www.amazon.com/Odyssey-Homer/dp/1454922435/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1511192345&sr=1-1&keywords=ISBN10+1454922435

Hmmm, if you can find them, I'd definitely recommend My Father's Dragon and its sequels Elmer and the Dragon and The Dragons of Blueland.

They're wonderfully imaginative stories about a young boy who, when he hears about a baby dragon being kept unjustly by the denizens of Wild Island, resolves to go and rescue it.

They're not particularly advanced reading, but they're also not particularly intense, and thus not frightening (if he read Roald Dahl, I can't imagine this troubling him).

Does he like animals? The Shiloh series may be a good idea. A boy and his dog, but also more contemporary than a lot of the classics.

And then there's the Great Brain stories. These were among my favorites.

Or, if you're so inclined, Encyclopedia Brown is always good, if a bit of an unintentional time piece.

I bought this book for my daughter- she's only 2 but she enjoys the pictures so far. I remember growing up, my very favorite book was Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters after seeing a segment on Reading Rainbow. That's a wonderful story.

Could it be The Remarkable Journey of Prince Jen?

When Prince Jen volunteers to search for the legendary court of Tien-kuo, a mysterious old man chooses six gifts for him to bear in homage: a saddle, a sword, a paint box, a bowl, a kite, and a flute. Puzzled by the gifts but full of high spirits and pride, Jen sets off but stumbles almost immediately into a series of misfortunes. Only with the help of his faithful servant, Mafoo, and valiant flute-girl, Voyaging Moon, and only after a breathtakingly exciting string of adventures can Jen discover the real meaning of the gifts and face his true destiny. . . .

Hey Ben! Great to see some new faces around here, the more the merrier as they say :)
As for your choice in books I have to agree with your taste, I would recommend the epic series as they are set in the past but with SciFi mixed in.
I hope you feel at home here and I wish you all the best!

Casey at the Bat! It's a poem that a number of people have turned into children's books, I got one of them for my 2 year old and he loves it! I can read it as fast or as slow as I feel like and he loves the rhyming and cadence.

This is the copy I have, the art direction is really lovely and true to the times (that the poem was written) and is very engaging: https://www.amazon.com/Casey-Bat-Ballad-Republic-Caldecott/dp/1929766009/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=casey+at+the+bat&qid=1574693137&sr=8-3

my favourite in the category of "extreme boomer takes in the form of children entertainment" is this

>"Everyone is buzzing about the president's birthday! Especially George Washington's servants, who scurry around the kitchen preparing to make this the best celebration ever. Oh, how George Washington loves his cake! And, oh, how he depends on Hercules, his head chef, to make it for him. Hercules, a slave, takes great pride in baking the president's cake. But this year there is one problem--they are out of sugar."

A Picture of Freedom: The Diary of Clotee . . from The Dear America Series?

Was it maybe A Picture of Freedom from the Dear America series?

ayy lmao #1 best selling children's book

btw books meant for kids between ages 7-10 should not contain stuff that they can barely comprehend, like just how horrible slavery was back in the day.

Mr. Tucket? In that book a boy is captured by Indians and escapes.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005DB6QZY?btkr=1

No problem, I remembered them right away! I loved the ribbon bookmark in them. I think the ones your talking about are A Picture of Freedom and Dreams in the Golden Country

huh I was about to guess you were talking about this one

that book description

Just a guess...

http://www.amazon.com/Remarkable-Journey-Prince-Jen/dp/0142402257/ref=la_B000AQ1QXY_1_10?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1394927027&sr=1-10