Historical Fiction – Page 2 – Unleashing Readers

Author Guest Post: “Web of the Spider in the Classroom” by Michael P. Spradlin, Author of Rise of the Spider

September 22, 2024 by Kellee

“Web of the Spider in the Classroom”

Having written a great deal of historical fiction for young readers, I’ve been considering the inherent value of this genre for middle graders for some time. Is learning about the past through fiction a viable methodology? Or should we only stick to studying…the past? I know that professional educators, librarians and smarter than me writers have long wrestled with this question.

I can only speak from anecdotal experience, but that experience tells me the answer is a resounding yes. My historical novel Into the Killing Seas, based on the true story of the sinking of the USS Indianapolis during World War II, has probably generated more reader mail to me than any of my books. And a common and consistent thread running through all of those letters was how many of those students were so intrigued by the true story that they had turned it into a research project and had gone on to read one or several of the excellent non-fiction books about the disaster. As the song says, “reader, you make my heart sing.” (I know it doesn’t really say that, but this is my piece, and I can do what I want).

My earlier historical fiction (I call them the World War II Adventures Series) had been centered around a group or person who experienced the war through a great deal of pain and hardship. The challenge with writing THE WEB OF THE SPIDER series is that it revolves around the rise of Nazism in pre-war Germany. Beginning in 1929, when Hitler’s movement is starting to pick up steam. His two fold strategy was working. One, he blamed the Treaty of Versailles for being unnecessarily punitive to Germany. And two, he placed the rest of the blame for Germany’s struggles squarely on the back of its Jewish citizens.

In the first book, The Rise of the Spider, we are introduced to Rolf, a twelve year old boy, living in the quaint village of Heroldsberg. It is a gorgeous place, just a few kilometers from Nuremberg, and while people are struggling, things are not as bad in Heroldsberg as they are in the rest of the country. Rolf and his best friend Ansel, spend their days at school, playing football (European) and wandering the woods and waters nearby. Rolf lives with his older brother Romer and his Papa who owns a toy factory in Nuremberg. His mother passed away from the Spanish Flu when Rolf was born in 1918. His life is quiet and fairly people until one day when two young men arrive in town.

They are representatives of the Hitler Youth, here to establish a chapter in Heroldsberg. To Rolf, there is something off about them. Their actions are a little too deliberate, their hair and clothing are too perfect, and their words too carefully chosen. With warning bells going off, Rolf decides to ignore and stay away from them. But he is alarmed when his brother Romer, becomes enamored by their words.

Things deteriorate rapidly. Romer is further drawn in and when a Jewish business is burned, Rolf suspects Romer had something to do with it. When Romer makes a decision to join the Hitler Youth his family is splintered even further, and more unrest takes place in the village.

When Romer finally runs away, Rolf and his Papa race to the Nuremberg Rally grounds, where Hitler is speaking during the Nuremberg Rally, but they are too late. When a violent riot erupts, they are caught up in it. And in the aftermath of violence, Rolf will need to make a choice between his family and his country.

Dealing with topics like political violence, socio-economic theory, and antisemitism and distilling it down to a middle grade audience, while keeping up the action, suspense and intrigue was probably the most challenging writing I’ve ever done. And my hope is that his book will help readers have a beginning understanding for the problems and social issues that we still face today. It is unfortunate that recent events have resulted in a new wave of violence and antisemitism. What is old is new again.

But maybe, just maybe, my little book can help.

Working with a reading specialist, I have created a curriculum/teaching guide that I hope will prove useful in leading discussions about The Rise of the Spider.

Web of the Spider: Book 1, The Rise of the Spider

Introduction:

Historical fiction has repeatedly shown us, that certain stories and narratives can serve as powerful windows into the past. It can offer educators and students opportunities to delve into pivotal moments in history. The Rise of the Spider is set in 1929 Germany, where a young boy named Rolf and his best friend Ansel find themselves caught in the crosshairs of political upheaval. I hope this story will help educators explore the value of historical fiction in the context of teaching history and fostering critical thinking skills.

Plot Overview:

The story unfolds in the quiet town of Heroldsberg, where Rolf and Ansel witness the ominous arrival of Hans and Nils, members of the Hitler Youth. The plot takes a poignant turn as the friends watch in horror as Rolf’s brother Romer becomes entangled in their web of recruitment. The novel begins to shed light on the rise of totalitarian ideologies and the impact they had on communities during a crucial period in history.

Themes for Classroom Discussion:

The Power of Propaganda:
- Use the book as a jumping off point to discuss the role of propaganda in shaping public opinion during the 1920s and 1930s. Compare to how political propaganda is used today.
- Encourage students to analyze propaganda materials of the time, fostering media literacy skills. Be sure to be careful in using these materials as the can be disturbing.
Youth and Ideological Indoctrination:
- By 1933, the Hitler Youth had replaced all other youth programs in Germany. Discuss the role of recruiting young people into political causes during other periods of history.
- Discuss the ethical implications of using young people to facilitate political change.
Family Dynamics During Political Upheaval:
- A person’s political beliefs can have a positive or negative impact on family dynamics. Discuss the role politics can play in a family life.
- Encourage students to reflect on how political beliefs can strain familial bonds and create internal conflicts.

Teaching Strategies:

Historical Inquiry Projects:
- Assign projects that prompt students to investigate the socio-political climate of 1929 Germany.
- Have them present findings through multimedia formats, fostering research and presentation skills.
Character Analysis:
- Guide students in conducting in-depth character analyses, exploring the motivations and conflicts faced by Rolf, Ansel, and Romer. How are they alike? How are they different?
- Connect character development to broader historical themes. How does Rolf’s journey compare to other both fictional characters and real people from history.

Published September 24th, 2024 by Margaret K. McElderry Books

About the Book: Witness the chilling rise of Hitler’s Germany through the eyes of a twelve-year-old boy in this first book in the action-packed middle grade series Web of the Spider for fans of I Survived and A Night Divided.

1929, Heroldsberg, Germany. Rolf might only be twelve years old, but he’s old enough to know that things have not been good in his country since the end of the Great War. Half of Germany is out of work, and a new political movement is taking hold that scares him. Every night, Rolf’s father and older brother, Romer, have increasingly heated arguments about politics at the dinner table. And when two members of the new Nazi Party, Hans and Nils, move to town as part of the Hitler Youth, Rolf is uneasy to see how enamored Romer is by their promises of bringing Germany to glory.

Rolf doesn’t trust Hans and Nils for a moment. For all their talk of greatness, they act more like bullies, antagonizing shop owners who are Rolf’s friends and neighbors. Yet Romer becomes increasingly obsessed with their message of division, and Rolf watches in horror as his family fractures even further.

When there is an act of vandalism against a Jewish-owned business in town, Rolf fears Romer might have had something to do with it. Can Rolf find a way to intervene before things get any worse?

About the Author: Michael P. Spradlin is the New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award–nominated author of the Spy Goddess series, The Youngest Templar series, and the Web of the Spider series, as well as several works of historical fiction, including the Western Heritage Award winning Off Like the Wind: The Story of the Pony Express. He currently resides in Lapeer, Michigan, with his wife, daughter, and his schnoodle, Sequoia. Learn more at MichaelSpradlin.com.

Thank you, Michael, for sharing this teaching guide!

Remember Us by Jacqueline Woodson

March 3, 2024February 20, 2024 by Kellee

Remember Us
Author: Jacqueline Woodson
Published October 10th, 2023 by Nancy Paulsen Books

Summary: National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson brings readers a powerful story that delves deeply into life’s burning questions about time and memory and what we take with us into the future.

It seems like Sage’s whole world is on fire the summer before she starts seventh grade. As house after house burns down, her Bushwick neighborhood gets referred to as “The Matchbox” in the local newspaper. And while Sage prefers to spend her time shooting hoops with the guys, she’s also still trying to figure out her place inside the circle of girls she’s known since childhood. A group that each day, feels further and further away from her. But it’s also the summer of Freddy, a new kid who truly gets Sage. Together, they reckon with the pain of missing the things that get left behind as time moves on, savor what’s good in the present, and buoy each other up in the face of destruction. And when the future comes, it is Sage’s memories of the past that show her the way forward. Remember Us speaks to the power of both letting go . . . and holding on.

About the Author: Jacqueline Woodson (www.jacquelinewoodson.com) received a 2023 Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, a 2020 MacArthur Fellowship, the 2020 Hans Christian Andersen Award, the 2018 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, and the 2018 Children’s Literature Legacy Award. She was the 2018–2019 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, and in 2015, she was named the Young People’s Poet Laureate by the Poetry Foundation. She received the 2014 National Book Award for her New York Times bestselling memoir Brown Girl Dreaming, which was also a recipient of the Coretta Scott King Award, a Newbery Honor, the NAACP Image Award, and a Sibert Honor. She wrote the adult books Red at the Bone, a New York Times bestseller, and Another Brooklyn, a 2016 National Book Award finalist. Born in Columbus, Ohio, Jacqueline grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, and Brooklyn, New York, and graduated from college with a B.A. in English. She is the author of dozens of award-winning books for young adults, middle graders, and children; among her many accolades, she is a four-time Newbery Honor winner, a four-time National Book Award finalist, and a three-time Coretta Scott King Award winner. Her books include Coretta Scott King Award and NAACP Image Award winner Before the Ever After; New York Times bestsellers The Day You Begin and Harbor Me; The Other Side, Caldecott Honor book Coming On Home Soon; Newbery Honor winners Feathers, Show Way, and After Tupac and D Foster; Miracle’s Boys, which received the LA Times Book Prize and the Coretta Scott King Award; and Each Kindness, which won the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award. Jacqueline is also a recipient of the Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement for her contributions to young adult literature. She lives with her family in Brooklyn, New York.

Review: Remember Us may be a historical fiction book, taking place in the 1970s, but Sage’s story is timeless. In the book, you have so many layers to look at. First, Woodson’s vignettes are beautifully crafted which makes the book such a wonderful read. Then you have the layer of the fires in Sage’s neighborhood and fire in her own life. There is also her love of basketball, and her amazing talent, as well as the questioning about her identity this leads to. Finally, it is a story of family and friends with Sage’s mom and Freddy playing star roles. All of this leads to a multi-layered novel that is a truthful look at growing up and remembering the past.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation and Discussion Questions: Check out this Educator’s Guide from Penguin Random House!

Flagged Passage:

After the year of fire
vines rise up
through the rest of our lives
of smoke
of flame
of memory.
As if to say
We’re still here.
As if to say
Remember us.

The moon is bright tonight. And full. Hanging low above the house across the street where an orange curtain blows in and out of my neighbors’ window. Out and in. And past the curtain there’s the golden light of their living room lamps. Beyond that, there is the pulsing blue of their television screen. I see this all now. I see a world continuing.

And in the orange and gold and blue I’m reminded again of the year when sirens screamed through my old neighborhood and smoke always seemed to be billowing. Somewhere.

That year, from the moment we stepped out of our houses in the morning till late into the night, we heard the sirens. Down Knickerbocker. Up Madison. Across Cornelia. Both ways on Gates Avenue. Down Ridgewood Place. Rounding the corners of Putnam, Wilson, Evergreen . . .

Evergreen. Sometimes a word comes to you after time has passed. And it catches you off guard. Evergreen. The name of a family of trees. And the name of a block in Brooklyn. Evergreen. Another way of saying forever.

That year, nothing felt evergreen.

Palmetto. A word that has never left me. A word that in my mind is evergreen. Palmetto. The name for both a stunning tree and an oversize cockroach. Palmetto was also the name of a street in my old neighborhood. And that year, Palmetto Street was burning.

That was the year when, one by one, the buildings on Palmetto melted into a mass of rock and ash and crumbled plaster until just a few walls were left standing. Walls that we threw our balls against and chased each other around. And at the end of the day, when we were too tired to play anymore, they were the walls we simply sat down by and pressed our backs into, staring out over a block that was already, even as we stared at it with our lips slightly parted and our hands shielding the last of the sun from our eyes, almost gone.

We said Well, nothing lasts for always, right?

We said One day even the whole earth will disappear.

We were just some kids making believe we understood.

But we didn’t. Not yet.

We didn’t understand the fires. Or life. Or the world.

But we knew that neighborhood was our world.

And we knew . . . our world was burning.

Read This If You Love: Jacqueline Woodson’s books such as brown girl dreaming and Harbor Me, Troublemaker by John Cho, The Red Umbrella by Christina Diaz Gonzalez, The Unsung Hero of Birdsong USA by Brenda Woods

Recommended For:

**Thank you to Penguin Young Readers for providing a copy for review!**

The Night Raven (The Moonwind Mysteries #1) by Johan Rundberg

November 7, 2023 by Kellee

The Night Raven
Author: Johan Rundberg
Translator: A.A. Prime
Published November 1st, 2023 by Amazon Crossing Kids

Summary: Mika is not your average orphan—and she’s about to prove it.

It’s 1880, and in the frigid city of Stockholm, death lurks around every corner. Twelve-year-old Mika knows that everyone in her orphanage will struggle to survive this winter. But at least the notorious serial killer the Night Raven is finally off the streets…or is he?

Mika is shocked when a newborn baby is left at the orphanage in the middle of the night, by a boy with a cryptic message. Who is he? And who is this “Dark Angel” he speaks of? When a detective shows up, Mika senses something even more sinister is going on.

Drawn in by Mika’s unique ability to notice small details—a skill Mika has always used to survive—the gruff Detective Hoff unwittingly recruits her to help him with his investigation into a gruesome murder. Mika knows she should stay far, far away, and yet…with such little hope for her future, could this be an opportunity? Maybe, just maybe, this is Mika’s chance to be someone who matters.

Praise:

★“This gripping, fast-paced mystery comes together well, with Mika’s deductions based firmly in logic and connections based in her own clear observations…A thrilling and thoughtful period murder mystery.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Mika is a brave, resourceful heroine, and her warm relationships with Valdemar and her peers at the orphanage counterbalance the bleak backdrop.” ―Publishers Weekly

“Originally published in Sweden, the novel ends with justice done and, for Mika, a newfound sense of purpose. While not every mystery introduced is solved, this is only the first volume in the Moonwind Mysteries series.” ―Booklist

★“This English translation of Rundberg’s lively historical mystery…is something to celebrate…Joyous, funny, suspenseful, and serious—an unusual and winning combination for middle-grade readers. Let’s hope its three sequels appear in [A. A.] Prime’s English translation, too.” —The Horn Book (starred review)

“Middle-school-age historical mystery fans will appreciate the fast-moving story and intriguing setting, as well as the splashes of humor throughout.” ―Historical Novels Review

“It’s a testament to the authors that none of the solutions comes easily — in any good mystery story, truth is a messy and painful business.” —The New York Times Book Review

About the Author & Translator:

Johan Rundberg is an award-winning author of children’s books who lives in Stockholm. He has written picture books, early readers, and middle grade, including Kärlekspizzan, Knockad Romeo, and the series Häxknuten. In 2021, he was awarded Sweden’s most prestigious literary prize, the August Prize, in the children’s and YA category for Nattkorpen, the original edition of The Night Raven, which was first written in Swedish. Nattkorpen was also the winner of a Swedish Crimetime Award in the children’s and YA category. There are now four books in this series published in Sweden.

A. A. Prime (Annie Prime) is an award-winning translator of Swedish literature. She was born in London and traveled the world studying a number of languages before settling in the English coastal town of Hastings. She now works full-time as a translator, specializing in the weird, witty, and wonderful world of children’s and young adult fiction. She holds an MA in translation from University College London and has published more than twenty books in the UK and US. In her free time, she can be found belly dancing, folk singing, horse riding, and sea swimming.

Review: Mika is such an impressive detective! Following her unexpected journey helping Detective Hoff solve a murder, the reader gets insight into her process of finding and following clues–very Sherlock Holmes-y! I was a bit worried, at first, that the story was going to be slow because it starts with something that seems so unrelated to what the book promises, but not long after everything starts to happen and we learn later that the beginning definitely connects to the story.

I read this book in one sitting because I had to know what was going on in the town, and I cannot wait to read more mysteries for Mika to solve, mostly now that we know Mika, the detective, and a few other orphans more–I want their story to continue!

I do want to add that this is a bit of a dark book–there are definitely murders, mentions of abuse & neglect, and has some scary parts. I can definitely think of so many readers in middle school that are going to love this book, but I wanted to make sure adults know that the author did not go light on the themes, descriptions, or topics. But in the end, there is definitely hope, which is the most important in a grim story.

Tools for Navigation: This book is going to be a perfect book to hand to your middle school readers that are looking for mysteries, even if they aren’t interested in historical stories because the mystery and darkness will suck them in.

Discussion Questions:

What makes Mika a wonderful detective?
How does the author bring insight into the lives of orphans in the 19th century? What was life like for them?
How would you describe Mika’s life at the beginning of the book versus at the end of the book?
Do you think the detective was smart or careless in having Mika help him with the case?
Did you catch any of the clues Mika did to figure out who had committed the murder?
Were you surprised by the connections between the murderer and Mika’s orphanage?
Do you think all of the secrets within the orphanage were necessary?
How would the story be different if it was from the point of view of the detective? The murderer? Edvin? Rufus?
How is the setting a part of the story? How is it different from where you live?
What is the mood of the book?

Flagged Passages/Spreads:

Chapter 3

Mika has learned to identify where most customers work. The ones from the tanneries are recognizable by the smell. The ones from the tobacco factory have stained hands. The men in the corner are neither. They’re not in uniform, but Mika can tell they’re cops. She can tell because everyone else is avoiding their gaze. No one else is sitting anywhere near them. As if the violence surrounding them gives off a stench.

Mika puts the tankards down on their table. The larger of the two men signals to her to fill the smaller glasses as well. She fetches a bottle from the cupboard behind the bar. The big man’s hand shakes as he reaches for the glass. Not with cold or drunkenness. This is something else. It only takes one quick glance for Mika to see the same thing she saw in that boy last night. Fear.

She fills the glasses while the men continue talking in low voices.

“Nordell and I were first on the scene,” says the big guy. “Looking back, I wish we hadn’t gone in such a rush.”

He raises his glass and grimaces as the liquor pours down his throat.

“The body was pretty much drained of blood, like the kill of a hunt.”

The thinner man raises his eyebrows. “I thought you said he was alive when you arrived?”

The big man looks grimly at his empty glass. Then nods. “Barely. We came just in time to hear his last words. He said . . .” He turns his empty schnapps glass upside down hopefully and drips the dregs onto his tongue before leaning over the table and concluding his sentence in a hushed tone: “. . . that the Night Raven had come for him.”

Mika lingers at the next table. With her back turned to the men, she pretends to wipe a dropped knife on her dress. Behind her she hears the thinner man’s incredulous voice.

“You must have heard wrong. You can’t possibly mean that . . .”

Read This If You Love: Murder mysteries, Historical mysteries

Recommended For:

**Thank you to Blue Slip Media for providing a copy for review!**

Author Guest Post: “Introducing Young Readers to Historical Fiction” by Deborah Hopkinson, Author of The Adventures of Trim

October 1, 2023 by Kellee

“Introducing Young Readers to Historical Fiction”

I love history and inventing new ways to make it exciting to young readers, whether I’m writing nonfiction or fiction. But as I tell students at school and library author visits, lots of my experiments don’t work out. And that was nearly the case with my new intermediate series, the Adventures of Trim.

These are short, 48-page early chapter books, enhanced by the delightful art of Kristy Caldwell. Trim Sets Sail and Trim Helps Out publish from Peachtree in October 2023. Two more titles are slated for 2024.

The Trim books are my first venture into this short format. Trim and his non-human friends are at the center of the story, and that’s new for me too. (I’ve written only one picture book with a talking animal before.) But although they have talking animals, the books draw on history. They also include back matter: author’s notes to introduce the genre and point out aspects of the story inspired by real events. I’m excited about this format, but it took a long time to get here!

The Real Trim

I first came across the story of the real Trim more than five years ago. His owner was British explorer Matthew Flinders (1774-1814). Flinders, who decided to become an explorer after reading Robinson Crusoe as a boy, led the first western expedition to circumnavigate Australia at the turn of the nineteenth century. The HMS Investigator crew members included a naturalist, a botanical artist, and a landscape painter.

There was also a ship’s cat named Trim, a feisty feline who appears to have charmed everyone on board. And like cat lovers today who share tales of their feline companions on social media, Flinders had many amusing stories about Trim’s adventures and antics. Trim learned to swim when he fell overboard as a kitten; he survived a shipwreck; he even traveled on a London stagecoach when the two visited England between expeditions.

Trim was likely killed during the time Flinders was imprisoned by the French on the island of Mauritius, but Flinders didn’t forget his beloved cat. Lost for many years, his short tribute to Trim was discovered among his papers in the 1970s. It’s a warm-hearted, humorous, and remarkably modern-sounding account.

And as soon as I read it, I knew I had to write about this intrepid pair, who are memorialized in statues in both Australia and England.

But how?

Finding a Way into the Story

After trying (and failing) with Trim as a picture book, I put it aside for a couple of years. But I didn’t entirely forget about it. I’m lucky to have an enthusiastic young reader in my life: my grandson, Oliver, now seven. Reading is our favorite activity together. As Oliver and I devoured ready-to-reads and short chapter books, I noticed that while fiction and nonfiction abounds, we found few historical fiction titles. And rarely did books for this age group include back matter.

Oliver’s Drawing of Trim

Oliver and I are fans of Peachtree’s King and Kayla series, written by Dori Hillestad Butler and illustrated by Nancy Meyers. And when my Peachtree editor Kathy Landwehr happened to mention she was a cat lover, I wondered: Might Trim work in this format for newly independent readers? Fortunately for me, Kathy and Peachtree were willing to take a chance. And I was thrilled to be paired with the multi-talented Kristy Caldwell, who also illustrated my picture book Thanks to Frances Perkins: Fighter for Workers Rights.

Exploring the World to Learn New Things

I think I can speak for Kristy also to say we are both excited to introduce a young audience to the genre of historical fiction through the Trim books. While the non-human characters (Trim, ship’s dog Penny, a grouchy parrot named Jack, and a rat called Princess Bea) have their own adventures, Kristy and I both have made use of online library and museum resources in England and Australia to research the expedition, the ship, and maritime customs of the early nineteenth century.

And while Trim’s adventures are very much in the realm of fiction, I’ve been able to use details from Flinders’s tribute, incorporating an episode where Trim falls overboard, Trim’s devotion to patrolling the hold, and his habit of stealing food off forks at the captain’s table.

Each book contains an author’s note as well as a photo of one of the statues of Flinders and Trim. I begin by introducing the genre: “Trim Sets Sail is a made-up story about a real cat who lived in the past. We call this kind of story historical fiction.” The author’s note for each book includes information about Flinders and Trim, and sometimes short quotes from Flinders’s tribute.

As Penny tells Trim, the goal of their expedition is to explore the world to learn new things. And I hope the Trim books encourage kids to do just that.

Also, as someone who writes about history, I am passionate about the importance of doing oral histories, preserving family stories, and writing about our lives. After all, if Matthew Flinders had not taken the time to pen a remembrance of his cat, we wouldn’t know about Trim today.

So I close each author’s note with some words of encouragement: “What adventures will you have and write about?”

Because you just never know. Maybe a century or two from now, someone will decide to write about you and your pet!

Trim Sets Sail (10/3/2023)
Trim Helps Out (10/24/23)
Author: Deborah Hopkinson
Illustrator: Kristy Caldwell
Published by Peachtree

About Trim Sets Sail: One small kitten learns about the great big world as he sets sail with his fellow shipmates, animal and human, in this historical fiction intermediate reader.

When Trim trips over a napping dog, little does he know that soon he’ll set sail and begin learning how to be a ship’s cat. Among his first lessons: the parts of the ship (the front is called the bow, like “bow wow”), the dynamics among his new colleagues (Jack the ship’s parrot is not so easy to befriend), and basic skills like climbing (up is easier than down) and swimming. With the assistance of Captain Flinders, Penny the ship’s dog, and Will the ship’s artist, Trim learns new skills, tests his limits and abilities, and finds a way to contribute to life onboard.

This delightful early reader series by acclaimed author Deborah Hopkinson is inspired by the true story of Trim, often called the most famous ship’s cat in history. Owned by British explorer Matthew Flinders, Trim traveled on the HMS Investigator on the first expedition to circumnavigate Australia (1801–1803).

About Trim Helps Out: Trim is eager to do a good job on his first day as ship’s cat—but what is his job? All around him, members of the crew are busy with their responsibilities—too busy to notice a small kitten looking for an opportunity to contribute. Jack the parrot directs Trim to the hold, to patrol for rats. But Jack neglects to tell Trim exactly what a rat is. Surely Princess Bea, the new friend he meets below deck, isn’t a rat. She doesn’t resemble the creepy, scary-looking creature that Jack warned Trim about and she’s happy to have an assistant to fetch her biscuits from the galley.

About the Author: .Deborah Hopkinson is the author of more than seventy books for children and teens, including Carter Reads the Newspaper, illustrated by Don Tate, and Thanks to Frances Perkins, illustrated by Kristy Caldwell. Deborah lives in Oregon with her family, some noisy canaries, two dogs, and Beatrix the cat. Visit her online at DeborahHopkinson.com.

https://www.facebook.com/deborah.hopkinson.33
https://twitter.com/Deborahopkinson
https://www.instagram.com/deborah_hopkinson/

And don’t miss out on the KidLitTV Feature Airing Soon! View the promo HERE!

Thank you, Deborah, for bringing historical fiction to our newest readers!

Author Guest Post: “After the Little House Books” by Susan Lynn Meyer, Author of A Sky Full of Song

September 3, 2023 by Kellee

“After the Little House Books”

Maybe you have a child or student who absolutely loved Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House books and who feels forlorn at reaching the end of the series. Or maybe you’re wary about introducing these books into your house or classroom, given recent critiques of the books’ representation of Native and Black people, attitudes particularly voiced by Ma.

What other books can you turn to?

Here are some other middle-grade novels about this period in history from a variety of different perspectives that you might want to have in your classroom or library to hand to a young reader.

PRAIRIE LOTUS by Linda Sue Park (Boston: Clarion Books, 2020).

Linda Sue Park grew up loving the Little House books but wishing that she could see herself in them, as she explains in her author’s note. The result was this novel, in which she imagines a way that a half-white, half-Chinese (or in fact, as Hanna later learns, one-fourth Chinese, one-fourth Korean) girl could have ended up in DeSmet, South Dakota. Park’s main character, fourteen-year-old Hanna, has come from California in 1880 with her father to the small town of LaForge, where he opens a dry good shop. Hanna dreams of getting her diploma and then becoming a dressmaker in her father’s shop—but she must struggle against her father’s resistance and the biases of the townspeople to achieve her dreams.

BIRCHBARK HOUSE by Louise Erdrich (NY: Hyperion, 1999).

An Ojibwa girl, seven-year-old Omakayas, lives contentedly with her family on Turtle Island in Lake Superior in the 1840s, learning in detail the everyday ways of her people. When a white fur trader, passing through, brings smallpox to their community, her people are devastated by the disease—and through the devastation, Omakayas finds herself in the role of healer and also learns the grievous story of her past. The narrative continues in later books in the series. Perfect for students who want another series of novels.

FOLLOW ME DOWN TO NICODEMUS TOWN by A. LaFaye, illustrated by Nicole Tadgell (Albert Whitman, 2019).

Not a middle-grade novel, but a longer picture book, this one tells the story of Dede, who sees a notice offering land to Black people in Kansas. She and her parents leave their life of sharecropping in the South and head to Nicodemus, Kansas, a town founded in the 1870s by formerly enslaved people, where they stake a claim and achieve a home of their own for the first time.

MAY B. by Caroline Starr Rose (NY: Random House, 2012).

This verse novel tells the dramatic and somber story of twelve-year old May B. in nineteen-century Kansas. May B. struggles in school and her parents, in need of money, arrange for her to live as a hired girl with the Oblingers, a young couple homesteading in an isolated dugout fifteen miles from May’s home. When the depressed young wife flees and Mr. Oblinger heads off to find her, May finds herself alone and struggling to survive for months until her father returns to bring her home for Christmas. This verse novel is perfect for struggling readers, as it is about a girl with reading challenges and because it tells its story in few words.

A dear friend of mine, a severely dyslexic poet / college professor, once told me that she turned to poetry as a young person because you got more meaning out of it per word—the struggle over each word had a bigger payoff. Poetry or verse novels may be perfect for a dyslexic reader you know

And my book:

A SKY FULL OF SONG by Susan Lynn Meyer (NY: Union Square Kids, 2023).

Eleven-year old Shoshana and her large family flee the persecution they face as Jews in the Russian Empire and come to North Dakota in 1906 where they struggle to farm the land while living in a dugout. Shoshana takes a fierce joy in the beauty of the prairie and in her family’s new animals, but her beloved older sister Libke misses their Ukrainian village and has a harder time learning English and making friends. Soon the sisters are at odds for the first time ever. Shoshana finds herself hiding her Jewish identity in the face of prejudice, while Libke insists on preserving it. Shoshana has to look deep within herself to realize that her family’s difference is their greatest strength. By listening to the music that has lived in her heart all along, Shoshana finds new meaning in the Jewish expression all beginnings are difficult, as well as in the resilience and traditions her people have brought all the way to the North Dakota prairie.

Praise:

“A different kind of prairie story has arisen, one that seeks in some manner to correct the past.”—The Wall Street Journal

“Meyer layers richly detailed depictions of Jewish traditions, stunning descriptions of the landscape, and a highly sympathetic narrator to convey an underreported historical arc.”—Publishers Weekly

“Frequent parallels to the Little House series accentuate how different Shoshana’s experience is from the White, Christian, mythically American lives of her classmates . . . . A moving, gently kind coming-to-America story.”—Kirkus Reviews

Possible read-alike exercises for students:

If your students read a Wilder novel paired with one of the read-alike books above, or if your students instead read two of the books above, it might be fun (as former teacher Stephanie Fitzgerald suggests on Goodreads—thank you!) to have them create Venn diagrams of the two books.

Draw two large, overlapping circles. In the overlapping space, list what the two books have in common. In the rest of each circle list elements that are different in the two books. Color in each circle or add drawings for an extra element of fun!

About the Author: Susan Lynn Meyer is the author of two previous middle-grade historical novels—Black Radishes, a Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner, and Skating with the Statue of Liberty—as well as three picture books. Her works have won the Jane Addams Peace Association Children’s Book Award and the New York State Charlotte Award, as well as many other honors. Her novels have been chosen as Junior Library Guild and PJ Our Way selections, included among Bank Street College of Education’s Best Children’s Books of the Year, and translated into German and Chinese. She is Professor of English and Creative Writing at Wellesley College and lives outside Boston.

Thank you, Susan, for this read-alike list!

Drawing Outside the Lines: A Julia Morgan Novel by Susan J. Austin

October 18, 2022 by Kellee

Drawing Outside the Lines: A Julia Morgan Novel
Author: Susan J. Austin
Published October 18th, 2022 by SparkPress

Summary: Meet the brilliant, fearless, and ambitious Julia Morgan. In 1883, eleven-year-old Julia visits the amazing new Brooklyn Bridge—an experience that ignites within her a small but persistent flame. Someday, she decides, she too will build an astounding structure.

Growing up in horse-and-buggy Oakland, Julia enjoys daring fence walks, climbing the tallest trees, and constantly testing her mother’s patience with her lack of interest in domestic duties and social events. At a time when “brainy” girls are the object of ridicule, Julia excels in school and consistently outsmarts her ornery brothers—but she has an even greater battle ahead. When she enrolls at university to study engineering, the male students taunt her, and the professors belittle her. Through it all, however, Julia holds on to her dream of becoming an architect. She faces each challenge head-on, firmly standing up to those who believe a woman’s place is in the home. Fortunately, the world has yet to meet anyone like the indomitable Miss Morgan.

Drawing Outside the Lines is an imagined childhood of pioneering architect Julia Morgan, who left behind her an extraordinary legacy of creativity, beauty, and engineering marvels.

Author: Susan Austin

Praise:

“Austin imagines Julia Morgan’s life with authority. She makes an important historical figure accessible to us. Drawing Outside the Lines makes us see and feel what Morgan was up against, which makes her spectacular work all the more impressive.” —Gennifer Choldenko, Newbery Honor-winning author of the Alcatraz series
“Austin imagines Julia Morgan’s life with authority. She makes an important historical figure accessible to us. Drawing Outside the Lines makes us see and feel what Morgan was up against, which makes her spectacular work all the more impressive.” —Joan Schoettler, author of Ruth Asawa: A Sculpting Life
“Diligent research and a rich imagination make Susan Austin’s new book on the young Julia Morgan a pleasure to read for all ages. Morgan is an amazing role model for young women everywhere. Austin offers plenty of examples of Morgan’s determination and talent and embroiders on these to create a convincing narrative. This book is a charming introduction to a great woman architect.” —Sarah Gill, author of Julia Morgan’s Berkeley City Club

About the Author: As an educator, Susan J. Austin knows the minds of young readers. Her first novel, The Bamboo Garden, is set in Berkeley, California, 1923, and describes an unlikely friendship between two girls that is tested by a fierce fire that threatens to destroy their town. Currently, she is writing about 12-year-old Goldie, a whiz kid in the kitchen who hopes that her culinary magic can help her family’s delicatessen out of a pickle in 1928 Hollywood. Her characters are always brave, strong-willed, risk-takers. Writing historical fiction offers her a way to educate and excite her readers about the past. She and her husband live in Northern California, surrounded by family, their splendid, but fussy rose bushes, and a lifetime collection of books. Learn more at www.susanjaustin.com

Review: I loved stepping back to the turn of the 20th century with Julia and experience her marvel as engineering and architectural feats were occurring all over America. I also learned so much along with Julia in the book–it was intriguing to learn about architecture, architectural materials, engineering, and more!

Although I know that much of the book is fiction, that Julia is based on a real woman made the story easier to connect with because you knew she succeeded; you knew that all of the hate and bullying and sexism didn’t keep her down. And I wanted to keep following her journey to see all of the amazing things she did to prove people wrong.

Overall, a well-researched and also engaging historical fiction novel about a topic and time period not often shared with our middle grade readers. I look forward to sharing it with students and am happy to share it here.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: This novel lends itself to be a companion when teaching historical architecture, engineering, or mechanical drawing. It also includes great anecdotes that could add to a lesson about the turn of the century’s amazing feats such as the Brooklyn Bridge, Eifel Tower, and Ferris Wheel.

Additionally, must of Julia’s story is shrouded in sexism which would go well with a discussion on women’s rights during American history.

The book could also be a mentor text for students to write their own historical fiction story based on an individual. The author’s note could be used to show how the author took what she learned through research and then made the story her own while still honoring the historical time and figure.

Discussion Questions:

How did the author use what she knew about Julia Morgan to create this story?
Which of Julia’s mentors do you think influenced her the most?
Why did Julia’s mom have more trouble with letting Julia focus on academics than her father did?
Even though Mary and Julia were very different, how did they complement each other and help each other succeed?
Is there anything in the book that you really wanted to be true but the author’s not shared it was fiction?
How was Julia treated versus her male counterparts in her university?
What barriers did Julia face and overcome? Why did the barriers exist and how did she overcome them?
How did Julia’s family both shape and inhibit her?

Flagged Passages:

Part II: The Choice

Chapter 11: Too Brainy

“The tower with windows on all four sides, offers a fine view of the city. After considering several sites, I decide on an unusual structure I frequently pass by.

The next day, as I climb the tower’s narrow staircase, voices and thumping noises dash my hope of being alone. The room is packed with fellow drawing students. As soon as I step inside, the place turns eerily quiet.

I’m not surprised. The boys have never approved of me. Pencils go missing from my desk, my work is crumpled or tossed to the floor, and every day my stool mysteriously moves to the back of the room. It hardly ever happens to the few girls in the class. Just me. Although I hate the situation, it would be worse if I spoke up. Over the years, I’ve grown used to being teased by both boys and girls, mainly about my good grades. But high school is different. The boys in mechanical drawing have made it clear: I am not welcome.

I make my way to the best window for viewing my subject—the Pardee water tower. It’s a two-story wood construction, wider at the bottom, and topped with a windmill. Two boys standing by the window appear absorbed in their drawings. When I head toward a second, less favorable window, the boys standing there act as if I’m invisible. The air in this crowded, silent room is stale and unpleasant, much like the smell of dirty laundry in my brothers’ bedroom.

Heading to a third window, I steel myself for trouble, resolving to be sugar sweet. I will shame them. With a cheery smile, I say, “Excuse me. Is there room for one more here?”

The boy with freckles finally looks up from his sketchpad. “Have to wait ’til we’re done. And that could take a while.” I glance at his notebook. Blank.

I want to race back down those stairs, but I stay. Still smiling, I say, “Frankly, I think your estimate is incorrect. I shall not take up much room.”

If they are like my brothers, they will back down like timid deer. Can they hear the frantic flutter in my chest? After the briefest pause, they shuffle aside, red-faced, leaving me a tiny space.

The water tower is visible against a flame-red sunset. Within minutes I have a decent rendering. A quick glance at the boys’ sketchbooks confirms my hunch. Still blank.

The floorboards creak as I leave the church-quiet room. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, I hear that familiar refrain. “She’s too brainy for a girl.”

The laughter that follows stings worse than the words. I shut the door behind me, angry. What’s wrong with a girl being smarter than a boy? And so what if I draw well? It’s easy for me, like breathing.”

Read This If You Love: Historical fiction with strong women who overcome the odds of the limitations set by their time period, Architecture

Recommended For:

**Thank you to Spark Point Studio for providing a copy for review!**

Guest Post: Classroom Uses for Front Desk by Kelly Yang, Indian No More by Charlene Willing McManis with Traci Sorell, Lucky Broken Girl by Ruth Behar, Mary and the Trail of Tears by Andrea L. Rogers, and Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani

August 25, 2022 by Kellee

One of the assignments during my Spring Children’s Literature course at UCF was creating a mini-teaching guide for the books we read for book clubs. We started with picture books for practice then students created them in their book clubs each week.

Today, I am happy to share the classroom uses and discussion questions found by my UCF Elementary Education students for some historical fiction books they read.

Front Desk
Author: Kelly Yang
Published May 29th, 2018 by Arthur A. Levine Books

Summary: Mia Tang has a lot of secrets.

Number 1: She lives in a motel, not a big house. Every day, while her immigrant parents clean the rooms, ten-year-old Mia manages the front desk of the Calivista Motel and tends to its guests.

Number 2: Her parents hide immigrants. And if the mean motel owner, Mr. Yao, finds out they’ve been letting them stay in the empty rooms for free, the Tangs will be doomed.

Number 3: She wants to be a writer. But how can she when her mom thinks she should stick to math because English is not her first language?

It will take all of Mia’s courage, kindness, and hard work to get through this year. Will she be able to hold on to her job, help the immigrants and guests, escape Mr. Yao, and go for her dreams?

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: This book would be useful in a classroom because it discusses real life topics like immigration, racism, poverty, bullying and even fraud. It gives a message to students on how important it is to fight for what’s right and to learn to treat others with respect, regardless of what they look like. It can be used as a platform for students to discuss issues that they can relate to.

Discussion Questions:

What was Mia’s job at the hotel? What characteristics she have to make her flourish doing that job?
Mia’s mom mothers says, were immigrants. Our lives are never fair,” what does she mean by that?
How did Mia change and grow throughout the book?
Within the book, Mias mother wanted her to practice her math skills despite how Mia felt. Has there ever been a time where you felt like you were in the same position as Mia?
Mia and her dad discuss the value of a penny. He says, “A mistake isn’t always a mistake. Sometimes a mistake is actually an opportunity. What does he mean by that?
Would you try to help immigrants the same way Mia’s family did or would you try to come up with a different solution? What would you do if you were caught by your employer?
If you were part of an immigrant family would you stay to work at this motel or would you leave to try better opportunities? Why would you stay or leave?
If you ran a motel how would you handle customers?
Do you think Mia’s mother was right to have her focus more on math or should she have been supportive of her daughter’s interest in writing? Why do you think one way or the other.

Recommended For:

Indian No More
Author: Charlene Willing McManis with Traci Sorell
Published September 24th 2019 by Tu Books

Summary: Regina Petit’s family has always been Umpqua, and living on the Grand Ronde reservation is all ten-year-old Regina has ever known. Her biggest worry is that Sasquatch may actually exist out in the forest. But when the federal government signs a bill into law that says Regina’s tribe no longer exists, Regina becomes “Indian no more” overnight–even though she was given a number by the Bureau of Indian Affairs that counted her as Indian, even though she lives with her tribe and practices tribal customs, and even though her ancestors were Indian for countless generations.

With no good jobs available in Oregon, Regina’s father signs the family up for the Indian Relocation program and moves them to Los Angeles. Regina finds a whole new world in her neighborhood on 58th Place. She’s never met kids of other races, and they’ve never met a real Indian. For the first time in her life, Regina comes face to face with the viciousness of racism, personally and toward her new friends.

Meanwhile, her father believes that if he works hard, their family will be treated just like white Americans. But it’s not that easy. It’s 1957 during the Civil Rights Era. The family struggles without their tribal community and land. At least Regina has her grandmother, Chich, and her stories. At least they are all together.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: This book is useful for teaching about the US Government and US History. This book also teaches about how people from diverse identities showed solidarity with each other in the face of white supremacy, which is a core value of US democracy. The book also teaches that one’s identity is personal and they cannot be defined by other people.

Discussion Questions:

Describe the significance of storytelling in Umpqua culture.
This book examines how identity is very complicated and mixed but the US government imposes very rigid categories on people. Discuss how the categories the US government attempts to put people in, then and now, can harm people and are inaccurate.
Describe the Grande Ronde Reservation from Regina’s point of view, is this different from other depictions of reservations you have seen?
What made the Thanksgiving and the Thanksgiving play so hard on Regina and her family?
Compare and Contrast the Indian Agency School on Grande Ronde Reservation and Budlong Elementary School in Los Angeles.
Reflect on Regina’s first Halloween off the Reservation. What went wrong and how do you think Regina and her friends felt? Think about how it could affect them even after the attack.
How did the passing of Chich affect the family? Why do you think Regina’s father reacted the way he did?
Regina connects to her culture and identity by storytelling. Write about a significant event that happened to you.
How does Regina’s father struggle with his identity after they move to Los Angeles?
Within the story Regina Petit called her grandmother and grandfather Chich and Chup. What do you call your grandparents where you’re from? Why do you think it differs from Regina?
Within the story, Regina was prideful of her long hair. It represented their culture back home. When Regina’s father cut it off, she was very upset. How do you think you would have reacted if someone took something that means alot in your culture and why?
Chich would keep the story of their homeland alive through her story telling. What stories do you have of your own culture that represents you? Why did you chose this?
Looking back at the story of the beaver, how can this relate to you in your life?
Have you ever experienced/seen someone experience what Regina and her friends did on Halloween? How would you react if you were in this situation? Do you think this was a fair treatment?
When Regina and her family wanted to celebrate her father promotion at work, they were denied service due to the color of their skin and appearance. Have you or someone you know experienced not being served at a restaurant just because of your appearance? Do you think this treatment of people of color is correct and just? How would you react if it were you in this very same situation?
What did you know about this time period prior to reading this book? Do you believe you learned more about the time period from the book after reading it? What have you learned?
How do you think Regina’s life differs from your own life? Do you think the time period has anything to do with that?
Have you ever experienced a great loss like Regina and her sister did towards the end of the book? How did you react to it?
If there was anything about the events in the book that you would change what would it be? Why did you choose this event to change?

Recommended For:

Lucky Broken Girl
Author: Ruth Behar
Published April 11th 2017 by Nancy Paulsen Books

Summary: Based on the author’s childhood in the 1960s, a young Cuban-Jewish immigrant girl is adjusting to her new life in New York City when her American dream is suddenly derailed.

Ruthie Mizrahi and her family recently emigrated from Castro’s Cuba to New York City. Just when she’s finally beginning to gain confidence in her mastery of English and enjoying her reign as her neighborhood’s hopscotch queen, a horrific car accident leaves her in a body cast and confined her to her bed for a long recovery. As Ruthie’s world shrinks because of her inability to move, her powers of observation and her heart grow larger. She comes to understand how fragile life is, how vulnerable we all are as human beings, and how friends, neighbors, and the power of the arts can sweeten even the worst of times.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: This book would be useful in the classroom for group discussions about overcoming hardships. It is also useful in the classroom to help students who are learning English relate to Ruthie.

This book will be a good choice for a classroom library. This book represents the story of a strong girl living through a difficult time in her life. She had to move to a new country but also had a bad accident that left her physically and emotionally drained. This book can help children learn to face loss and have hope for a better future.

Discussion Questions:

Ruthie faced hardship and she found it difficult to stay positive but her family and friends tried helping in the best way they could. How have your friends and family helped you when facing difficulties?
What is the theme of Lucky Broken Girl and how can you relate to the theme?
How are characters helping and not helping Ruthie cope during her recovery?
Was Chico a good friend to Ruthie? Why? What did he do during Ruthie’s recovery?
What did Ruthie learn about the immigration stories of the people around her?
Ruthie has been reading a lot during her recovery, especially Nancy Drew. How are these books helping her and encouraging her?
How was Ruthie “Lucky” while being bedridden for ten months?
What connection can you make with Ruthie or her family?
The painting of Frida Kahlo and the poems of Emily Dickerson help Ruthie understand her situation. What poems, books, or artists have helped you through a hard time, and why?

Recommended For:

Mary and the Trail of Tears: A Cherokee Removal Survival Story
Author: Andrea L. Rogers
Published January 1st 2020 by Stone Arch Books

Summary: Twelve-year-old Mary and her Cherokee family are forced out of their home in Georgia by U.S. soldiers in May 1838. From the beginning of the forced move, Mary and her family are separated from her father. Facing horrors such as internment, violence, disease, and harsh weather, Mary perseveres and helps keep her family and friends together until they can reach the new Cherokee nation in Indian Territory. Featuring nonfiction support material, a glossary, and reader response questions, this Girls Survive story explores the tragedy of forced removals following the Indian Removal Act of 1830.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: The story goes into great detail from the time Mary learns what is happening and the journey across the land. The characters face many different challenges on their journey, and the book does a great job at providing dates and locations. Also, the drama response of the news reporter would be fun, as it is clear the characters in the story have many opinions and emotions.

This book could also be used as a read-aloud book. It would be great to read a chapter a day as a class, even having children popcorn read paragraphs. After reading, students can do several different activities about the culture, history, and even character perspectives

Discussion Questions:

In what ways would you try to communicate to the soldiers if you didn’t speak English like Mary.
In what ways would you try to comfort your younger family members knowing you had no home to return to?
When Mary and her family are trapped in the mud caused by the non-sto prain, they begin to sing a song they all remember. Do you have a song your whole family knows? What song(s) do you sing to make yourself feel better?
While reading this book what emotions trigger you the most: sad, happy, confused?
In what ways do you relate to Mary?
How does not being able to speak the language with the soldiers create a conflict for Mary?
We’ve all felt alone at some point whether its been when we lost our mom at the grocery store for a second or what have you, name a similar situation in which you felt alone like Mary. Elaborate.
When was there a time where you felt scared like Mary? What did you do to overcome this fear?
How do you think that this situation of being forcefully kicked out of your house would play out today because you were of a certain racial group? What would be the effects?
Explain a time you cried tears of joy?

Recommended For:

The Night Diary
Author: Veera Hiranandani
Published March 6th 2018 by Kokila

Summary: It’s 1947, and India, newly independent of British rule, has been separated into two countries: Pakistan and India. The divide has created much tension between Hindus and Muslims, and hundreds of thousands are killed crossing borders.

Half-Muslim, half-Hindu twelve-year-old Nisha doesn’t know where she belongs, or what her country is anymore. When Papa decides it’s too dangerous to stay in what is now Pakistan, Nisha and her family become refugees and embark first by train but later on foot to reach her new home. The journey is long, difficult, and dangerous, and after losing her mother as a baby, Nisha can’t imagine losing her homeland, too. But even if her country has been ripped apart, Nisha still believes in the possibility of putting herself back together.

Told through Nisha’s letters to her mother, The Night Diary is a heartfelt story of one girl’s search for home, for her own identity…and for a hopeful future.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: This book can be useful in the classroom when talking about and learning about different cultures around the world. Students will have a better understanding of the differences of two close religions and cultures, as I learned when reading the book.

This book would also be useful when it comes to the topic of World History. After reading this book, students would have had insight to another culture and perspective from a standpoint of someone of a different culture in a different country.

Discussion Questions:

How do you think Nisha felt when she had to move?
What do you think you would have done if you or a family member were attacked on a train like Nisha and her family was?
Nisha kept a diary, what kind of thing do you think you would put in yours if you had one? Would your diary be similar to Nishas?
Do you think Papa made the right decision on moving away? Explain why or why not.
Do you think Nisha preferred one religion to the other? Hindu or muslim?
Kazi was Nisha’s best friend but she had to leave her behind. Do you think they would still keep in touch if they could?
Why do you think there was so much division in India?
How did the book make you feel after and during reading? Was it what you expected? Explain.
Nisha is half Muslim and half Hindu. Do you only have one religion in your household, or do you come from two like Nisha?
How did reading about Nisha’s journey make you feel when she was attacked on the train? What would you do in that situation ?
What are two lessons you learned from reading this book that are specific to Nisha’s Journey?
Do you think Papa made a good choice by leaving? Why or why not?
If you had to be a character from the book, who would you choose? Why?
How did moving away affect Nisha?
Name one character that contributed to Nisha’s life and journey to find herself.
Does anyone have a diary? If so, do you think that you can relate to Nisha because she had one to? Why?
Why do you think Papa didn’t want his son to smile in the beginning? What does this say about their culture?
Think about your bond with your siblings if you have any. Do you find it to be similar to Nisha and her brothers in any way?
When Nisha had to leave Kazi behind she was very sad. Have you ever lost a friend the way Nisha did, if so what was that like ?

Recommended For: