American Historical Fiction Books for Kids

Historical Events Retold in Fictional Journals and Tall Tales

Aug 31, 2009

A fictional Oregon trail pioneer and Dust Bowl folk hero star in these historical fiction books that take different looks at American history events.

When studying American history, reading historical fiction can be both positive and negative. On one hand, having history told as a story – instead of a list of names, facts, and figures – can make historical events seem a lot more real, exciting, and memorable. On the other hand, some authors do take creative liberties with historical stories, and even the best researched work can’t capture the actual experience of living these events.

That said, for readers who want to be entertained by tales based on American historical events – or history buffs interested in a different angle on American history, the following two historical fiction books offer humorous, fanciful, and entertaining looks back at the history of the Oregon Trail and the 1930s Dust Bowl. Just be sure to do your historical research first to separate fact from fiction!

On April 1, 1852, fifteen-year-old William Reed set out with his family on a six month journey across the Oregon Trail to conquer new frontiers – or so claims this fictional journal published by National Geographic that covers the family’s experiences (and expenses) with oxen, cholera outbreaks, and thieves as they navigated this famous and dangerous path.

Through a combination of cartoon sketches, journal entries, and an ever-present ledger of expenses, Reed chronicles how his family lost their fortune thanks to scam artists who fed emigrant prejudices toward Native Americans by dressing up as “hostile Indians” and stealing cattle and oxen. Yet the trail offers opportunities too, as William and his brother find when they regain their fortune by ferrying emigrants across the hazardous Green Giver – enabling the family to arrive in Portland richer than they began.

While William’s narrative is quite funny, the Reed family is not very sympathetic – especially when readers learn they left a comfortable life in Illinois out of a desire for conquer new territory, a desire that led thousands of emigrants like them to help destroy many Native American tribes through constant expansion. It’s ironic that William ends his journal by remarking “it is not what we find that matters, but the freedom to search the way we choose,” considering how their journey helped infringe on the freedoms of others.

Fact-wise, the book offers an informative Afterward by historian Marc Aronson who puts the hazards experienced by both Oregon Trail pioneers and Native Americans into a broader historical context. Teachers will also appreciate a reading list that includes not only nonfiction texts but also fiction books and online resources about the Oregon Trail.

Inspired by the haunting photographs and footage he saw of the Dust Bowl farmers of the 1930s, Matt Phelan’s The Storm in the Barn offers a unique folktale of a boy who longs to bring back rain to his family’s farm.

For as long as he can remember, dust has ruled eleven-year-old Jack Clark’s life – leaving his family’s farm destitute, giving his sister dust pneumonia, and even by robbing him of his chance to work alongside his father. Thanks to the dust, the only things Jack looks forward to are the stories his friend Ernie tells him about the folk hero Jack and his triumphs over the King of the West Wind and the Two-Headed Giant.

Then one evening, Jack sees a strange figure in the barn, with a face that looks like a thunderstorm. Is Jack suffering from the new “dust dementia” the family doctor keeps talking about? Or has he spotted a creature like the ones from Ernie’s stories – one he’ll have to conquer if he wants to bring back the rain?

Brilliantly illustrated with moody, black-and-white art, this graphic novel re-imagines life during the Dust Bowl as a period of American folklore where rain gods, not drought and lack of crop rotation, were responsible for the dust storms that swept over the American and Canadian prairie lands. As such, the book works best as the tall tale Phelan intended it as rather than an American history lesson – although it can be used to interest kids in the real history of the Dust Bowl.

Olson, Tod. How to Get Rich on the Oregon Trail: My Adventures Among Cows, Crooks & Heroes on the Road to Fame and Fortune. Washington D.C.: National Geographic. 2009. ISBN: 978-1-4263-0412-5

Phelan, Matt. The Storm in the Barn. Massachusetts. Candlewick Press. 2009. ISBN: 978-0-7636-3618-0

The copyright of the article American Historical Fiction Books for Kids in Children’s Books is owned by Michael Jung. Permission to republish American Historical Fiction Books for Kids in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.