All History is a Story

 

Barbary Chronicles, Charlesbridge Moves 2026. Art by Allysa Adams

As Teaching Authors celebrates America’s 250, with Esther kicking off the series with her list of oldies and goodies, Carmela offers some interesting titles, and Zeena asks the important question, who writes history? 

I love American history. That’s why I write about it. In exploring themes of racial and social justice, I recreate historical communities of those who often feel unseen and unheard, those whose isolated lives were complex and multi-layered, not only defined by class, gender and race , but also lived experiences.

You may have heard that I have a new book coming out in October. The Barbary Chronicles, published with Charlesbridge Moves!

No one plays the game like Jack London. Only eleven years old, she can pickpocket and flummox any unsuspecting rube who wanders into the muck of the Barbary Coast. Jack may be little, but she's clever and bold. With the help of a devoted stray dog, a kidnapped prince, and the scummiest ex-best friend ever, she'll do everything she can to save her found family.

Historical fiction is the coming together of two opposing elements: fact and fiction. As we know, it isn’t easy to define historical fiction. For some, historical fiction is first fiction, and therefore anything goes, especially during these times when facts can be alternative and history can be revised. The ongoing argument on how and why historical fiction is relevant, and by extension why history is important, seems perplexing. As a writer, one of the most stinging rejections that I get too many times is that, despite an interesting plot and engaging characters, historical fiction is a “hard sell.” Not just to publishers but also to readers.

So why is historical fiction important?  I am reminded of a story once  shared by historian David McCullough, echoing Abraham Lincoln’s cautionary, “Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history.” After a lecture, McCullough had been approached by a college sophomore who expressed her surprise to learn that the thirteen original colonies were located on the East Coast. He realized with profound surprise that young people did not know their own history, stating,  “They don’t know what happened, or why, or who was involved.”  I’m also a big fan and reader of historian Heather Cox Richardson’s excellent writing in her newsletter Letters from an American, as well as her books (To Make Men Free, 2021; How the South Won the Civil War, 2020) in which she answers questions about American history that no one remembers.

But it’s also true, textbooks are dreary, often done by committee, often heavily edited to make certain important but brutal events more agreeable.

It has always been my ardent belief that underscores all my writing is that history is a story about people facing insurmountable odds. History is about families and love, and failure, and fear and hope. History tells us what it means to be human, and historical fiction reflects the feeling for a living past.

So maybe the way to get young readers excited about history is to have them experience it! Maybe it needs to be more fun, more intriguing, more dramatic. Here’s a few grand ideas that might help the readers experience the adventure themselves!

Combine reading of the story with a relevant activity, such as cooking a historical recipe, creating costumes or studying primary source articles. I find diaries and letters are of particular interest to young readers.

Create a living timeline, using a long strip of paper (or a wall!) to map out the chronological order, then have the readers work together to draw their favorite scenes or use stickers to mark the events.

Draw a comic strip from the perspective of one of the secondary characters in the book.

Celebrate the music of the era of the novel by learning a few songs the characters might sing. Sea shanties are particularly fun songs to learn. Learn how to dance an English country dance, a waltz, or a quadrille!

Do a history scavenger hunt, visiting museums, historical parks or landmarks. Have the readers locate specific artifacts and answer trivia about exhibits that might relate to the novel. There’s also online databases, 3D gallery tours and digital newspaper archives that readers can use to solve historical puzzles!

Make history more personal, have readers find an object in their house that is older than 50 years, and have them write a story about it. Visit a local graveyard, finding the oldest gravestone and record the name and date, and have readers write a newstory about this person.

For more ideas, you can find activities based on The Barbary Chronicles here! 

We have the best adventures are on our own landscape! The western frontier, the Mississippi, the Civil War, the Revolutionary War, New Orleans, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, New York, the Midwest and the Southwest, the coming together of many cultures, many languages and many stories—why, we have the BEST stories in our own front yard! Telling a story is like singing a song. A good story has its rhythms and its refrains. Words sway and swing and slide across the page. When we read a good story, it feels like we're dancing.

Happy Dancing!

-- Bobbi Miller