My Historical Fiction Evolution Part 2

For the first post in My Historical Fiction Evolution series I discussed how Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr sparked my love for the genre when I was a child. Today I will talk about how that love evolved during the years of my youth.

Booky

Shortly after being introduced to historical fiction with Sadako, I was introduced to another young fictional girl by the name of Booky. Like Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, Booky: A Trilogy by Bernice ThurmanHunter was also read aloud by my teacher to the class. The main character in this series was also close in age to myself at the time. But what made her even more relatable was the fact that this trilogy was set in a place not far from home: Toronto! Even though the time period was set during the Great Depression, it mentioned many different locations in and around the city that are still there today (or were about 20 years ago). Some of those locations include: Eaton’s and the CNE, not to mention the different neighbourhoods Booky and her family lived in.

Guests of War

Around this time my love for reading in general had picked up and I was beginning to try different books outside of The Babysitter’s Club and Sweet Valley High, which I had been reading for several years prior. I came across another historical fiction book by another Canadian author.

Guests of War Trilogy by Kit Pearson was also set in Toronto and followed a young girl around my age. However this one was set during World War II and followed two British children as they are sent to Canada for safety.

There is something about reading of familiar places during a different time period that I find so interesting. Not only is it a great learning experience, but it is also interesting to compare the old ways of life to the present day.

Even after all these years I still consider Bernice Thurman Hunter’s Booky: A Trilogy and Kit Pearson’s Guests of War Trilogy to be my lasting favourites.

Stay tuned for part 3 of My Historical Fiction Evolution series where I will talk about books set during the Holocaust.