Sources: Experiencing America’s Story through Fiction

Experiencing America’s Story through Fiction. By Hilary Susan Crew. Chicago: ALA, 2014. 208 p. Paper $57 (ISBN: 978-0-8389-1225-6).

This book is packed full of historical fiction titles to incorporate into curriculum, aid in collection development, or to assist with reader’s advisory. Organized chronologically, the book begins with the colonization and settlement of America and proceeds through contemporary America, which, according the author, begins in 1980. The author ends with a bibliography and an index that includes authors, titles, and major historical events.

The book’s nine chapters are divided by time period. Some chapters include novels that cover the entire period. All of the chapters cover the major events of the time period, such as westward expansion, Native American history, civil rights, and so forth. Young adult books are listed first, and each annotation includes publisher information, grade recommendations, awards, a summary, and at least two discussion questions. Adult fiction books are listed next, and the annotations include the same information about each novel, except for award information. The author does an admirable job of including well written books appropriate to the time period, such as Two Girls of Gettysburg, by Klein, for the Civil War section and Code Talker, by Bruchac, for the section on World War II. The only section that is lacking is the final chapter on contemporary America, which includes titles about the Iraqi War and immigrant and minority experiences.

This book is ideal for secondary and postsecondary librarians to use as a tool for collaboration with history teachers. It will also be useful in collection development. History departments that wish to add fiction to their curriculum would also find this a helpful, well-laid-out resource. Even public librarians could find this useful in choosing books for historical fiction book clubs for teens and adults.—Melanie Wachsmann, Reference/Teen Librarian, Lone Star College-CyFair Branch Library, Cypress, Texas