I have never taken a history textbook to bed.
Never.
Bulleted lists of names and dates never grasped my attention to the point that I had to force myself to close the book and turn off the lamp.
Not once.
And there are absolutely no history textbooks on my Amazon Wish List, nor will there ever be.
The reason?
In my opinion, history textbooks are static, boring, lifeless wastes of paper full of bolded vocabulary words.
They stir up discontent because states and school districts waste valuable time arguing over their adoption.
They bust our budgets and our backs because they are overpriced, overvalued, and overweight.
As in, heavy.
Lifting, holding and carrying them should double as a P.E. credit.
And I’ve never heard a single student lament turning in their History textbook at the year’s end.
Now, don’t take any of that to mean I think History is boring.
Never.
I love it.
History is dynamic.
The pendulum of history swings from the horrific to the celebratory.
History is the study of the past. As in, today will soon be history. The first sentence of this post?
History.
Because History is a study of the past, it is full of stories.
STORIES!
Stories have power.
The power to compel people to make decisions, to offer insight where chaos may otherwise reign, and to infuse peace where a solution is possible because hey – someone else managed it under more difficult situations.
That’s why textbooks stink, and I’d use a stronger word if this weren’t a family blog that needs to retain its G-rating.
So what doesn’t stink?
Historical fiction, that’s what.
Breathing life into history can be done in many ways: documentaries, movies, plays, art, and (drumroll please) historical fiction.
This list we built together is important to me and, I hope, important to those of you who have (or will have) Junior High students taking World History.
That’s why I read every single comment and email, wrote down every single recommendation, and then Googled until my eyes dried up and rolled right out of their sockets.
Not really.
So thanks. Whether you commented, emailed or just encouraged, this list of 7th-grade and up World History (to 1650) readers is for you–for us.
There are 80 reasons to love historical fiction included in this FREE pdf download.
Several of your suggestions fell outside of the requested parameters, which were historical fiction readers for ages 12+ and grade level 7th-grade and up.
I did not include any books listed as 3rd-grade and up; although yes, I realize the “and up” means older kids could read them.
There had to be a cut-off somewhere, I suppose.
That said, many books not on this list are still in the comments on the original post for you and future readers to peruse at your leisure.
Unlike before, I did not include a list of the additional books we plan to purchase for Kenny simply because we didn’t get that far in the process. He’s still completing History for THIS year.
Because we faithsized our family in the Fall, our school week began two weeks later than usual and so, we are wrapping up two weeks later.
That’s a bit of family history for you.
heh heh
If after reading my rant, you still aren’t considering abandoning your history textbooks for good old fashioned reading fun, think about when you were in school.
What do you remember from your textbooks?
Anything?
Now, think about the last novel you read. Can you tell me about it?
»» Do you remember the main character?
»» Do you remember where he lived?
»» Do you remember if he had a family? A job? A secret?
»» Did she overcome any obstacles?
»» Did she have friends? Enemies? Who were they?
You remember those things because stories provide context mixed with “beautiful vocabulary and vibrant sentence structure…to anchor the information.”
History textbooks don’t do that.
If your student falls within the age range of the list created for this post, I encourage you to download it and spend some time with her reading book descriptions and reviews.
Make a list of which books you’ll buy, borrow or download.
If your student doesn’t fall within the age range of this list, make your own!
But before you do, Scholastic offers solid tips for choosing good historical fiction.
As always, feel free to let me know if there are any errors in the PDF and I will make updates.
Here is the list of 7th-grade and up World History (to 1650) readers one more time (y’know, in case you missed it)!
Download it.
Use it.
Love it.
I know you will.
If you have additional suggestions, please include them in the comments. It would help others to include links you may have bookmarked to online resources or other review sites for selecting historical fiction.
Heather Sanders helps moms pursue their passions and earn an income while staying home with their kids. If you want to raise your children while contributing to your family financially and following your dreams, subscribe to her blog now.