Trends and Recommendations in YA Historical Fiction

During the Historical Novel Society Conference this year, one topic that seemed to pop up in one way or another in every panel I attended, what young adult historical fiction novels.  Much of what was discussed was from readers who can't find enough choices and from authors who tend to have a harder time pitching YA novel to agents.  So one of the first things that I wanted to check out when I got home was what recent YA HF novels have been released.  I always tend to recommend novels from those whom I consider classic YA authors: Ann Rinaldi, Libba Bray, Carolyn Meyer, Scott O'Dell, and Eva Ibbotson.  Even though some of their novels were released a long time ago, I find them still relevant today and books that I love to share. 

Trends

During the survey of recently released YA novels (recent within the last 5 years or so) available on Amazon, I found a couple trends:

• There appears to be more YA novels set in the United States than I typically see in adult novels and they appear across all time periods.  One critique I have heard is that not enough adult HF is set in America.
• There appears to be less focus on royals and more on youth in interesting situations and settings - Africa, musicians, times of war
• One publisher that I have noticed that publishes a decent amount of YA HF is Bloomsbury Children - I have enjoyed many of their books

Recommendations

Now for some recommendations - I have only read a couple of these, the rest are based purely because they looked interesting - a couple I do have on my TBR:

Michaela MacColl

• Prisoners in the Palace - My Review
• Promise the Night - My Review
• The Revelation of Louisa May
• Nobody’s Secret
• Always Emily

Esther Friesner

• Threads and Flames - On My TBR - Focuses on the Triangle Fire, so I'm excited for this one.

Princesses of Myth Series: Each is a 2 book series, I'm assuming there will be a sequel for Deception's Princess

• Nobody’s Princess
• Nobody’s Prize
• Sphinx Princess - On My TBR
• Sphinx Queen
• Spirit’s Princess
• Spirit’s Chosen
• Deception’s Princess

Susanne Dunlap

• The Musician’s Daughter - On My TBR
• Anastasia’s Secret - On My TBR
• In the Shadow of the Lamp - On My TBR
• The Academie
• Emilie’s Voice
• Liszt’s Kiss

Livia Bitton-Jackson

• I Have Lived A Thousand Years: Growing Up in the Holocaust
• My Bridges of Hope: Searching for Life and Love After Auschwitz
• Hello, America

Sherri L. Smith

• Flygirl

Seymour Reit

• Behind Rebel Lines: The Incredible Story of Emma Edmonds, Civil War Spy
• Guns for General Washington: A Story of the American Revolution

Padma Venkatraman

• Climbing the Stairs

Kirby Larson

• Hattie Big Sky
• Hattie Ever After

Caroline B Cooney

• The Ransom of Mercy Carter

L.M. Elliott

• Annie, Between the States

Mary E. Lyons

• Letters from a Slave Girl

Vicky Alvear Shecter

• Cleopatra’s Moon - On My TBR
• Curses and Smoke - On My TBR

Dina L. Sleiman

Valiant Hearts Series

• Dauntless
• Chivalrous

William Lavender

• Just Jane
• Aftershocks

Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

• For Freedom
• Jefferson’s Sons
• The Lacemaker and the Princess

Lisa Klein

• Two Girls of Gettysburg
• Ophelia - On My TBR
• Cate of the Lost Colony - On My TBR
• Lady Macbeth’s Daughter - On My TBR
• Love Disguised

Norah Perez

• The Slopes of War

There are SOOO many more out there too!  If you are looking for even more recommendations, Amazon has a great sub-category for it and there are some excellent lists on Goodreads.  My guess is it might not be as easy to find these titles on the bookshelves of your local book store, but there are definitely choices available online!

 

Have you read any recent YA HF that I have not mentioned here?  Any special things you are looking for in YA HF?  I would love to hear it!!

 

 

Copyright © 2015 by The Maiden’s Court

The Lindberghs in Print

I knew a little about the Lindbergh’s prior to reading Lindbergh by A. Scott Berg; however, I had no idea that either Charles or Anne had written anything. Apparently they were quite prolific!!! Charles wrote on a wide variety of subjects – his iconic flight, of course, but also everything from science to the war. Anne actually wrote more on their flight experiences than Charles did, and wrote more works. So I wanted to share their writing endeavors – because I am interested in reading some of them!

Charles’ Books:

• We – The first of Charles’ books, written shortly after his iconic flight – he discusses his life, flight, and future of aviation
• The Spirit of St. Louis – A description of his trans-Atlantic flight – written in an adventure style
• The Culture of Organs (coauthored with Dr. Alexis Carrel) – writing about their work devising a pump to keep organs alive and sterile while outside the body during surgery – their work on the “Lindbergh pump”.
• Of Flight and Life – his reminiscences on flight and life
• The Wartime Journals of Charles A. Lindbergh – the name pretty much describes it – it is journal entries
• Boyhood on the Upper Mississippi – here Charles looks back on his childhood and times prior to WWI
• Autobiography of Values – published following his death, a collection of Lindbergh’s writings

Anne’s Books:

• North to the Orient – Anne’s account of the duo’s flight to Asia
• Listen! The Wind – Anne’s account of their flight from Africa to South America
• The Wave of the Future: A Confession of Faith – written prior to the outbreak of WWII, this is Anne’s foreboding of what could happen if a war breaks out – a lot of harsh criticism came out about this book
• The Steep Ascent - A fictional account (novel) of an actual incident which occurred over the Alps during a flight to India.
• Gift from the Sea – this is a series of vignettes, based on shells, where Anne muses on the lives of women
• The Unicorn and other Poems – the only collection of poems that Anne compiled
• Dearly Beloved – Another novel by Anne about a June wedding
• Earth Shine – A meditation of Earth and man’s trip to the moon
• Bring Me a Unicorn: Diaries and Letters of Anne Morrow Lindbergh, 1922–1928 – Anne’s diaries of the years indicated
• Hour of Gold, Hour of Lead: Diaries And Letters Of Anne Morrow Lindbergh, 1929–1932 - Anne’s diaries of the years indicated
• Locked Rooms and Open Doors: Diaries And Letters Of Anne Morrow Lindbergh, 1933–1935 - Anne’s diaries of the years indicated
• The Flower and the Nettle: Diaries And Letters Of Anne Morrow Lindbergh, 1936–1939 - Anne’s diaries of the years indicated
• War Without and Within: Diaries And Letters Of Anne Morrow Lindbergh, 1939–1944 - Anne’s diaries of the years indicated

I am most interested in reading We and The Spirit of St. Louis by Charles Lindbergh and North to the Orient and Listen! The Wind by Anne Morrow Lindbergh. I am interested in hearing in their own words about their expeditions.

Have you read any of these books? What did you think?

Other posts as part of Charles Lindbergh Week:

• Speeches Made by Charles Lindbergh
• Review of Lindbergh by A. Scott Berg
• Lindbergh in Song

 

Copyright © 2014 by The Maiden’s Court

Gilded Age Newport in Print

The Gilded Age is such a fascinating time period, and the lives of those who lived in the mansions in Newport, Rhode Island are so fascinating to us today.  Here are some books, both novel and non-fiction that let us explore what it would be like to live then.

Books about Gilded Age Newport, RI and the People who Lived There – Non-Fiction

• Gilded: How Newport Became America’s Richest Resort by Deborah Davis
• Rogues and Heroes of Newport’s Gilded Age by Ed Morris
• Rose: My Life in Service to Lady Astor by Rosina Harrison
• Consuelo and Alva Vanderbilt: The Story of Mother and Daughter in the ‘Gilded Age’ by Amanda Mackenzie Stuart
• The Glitter and the Gold: The American Duchess-In Her Own Words by Consuelo Vanderbilt Balsan

Books Set in Newport RI – Fiction

• The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin (only at the very beginning)
• Faithful by Janet Fox (at the beginning)
• The Last Season by Ronald Florence
• Death on the Cliff Walk by Mary Kruger (1^st book in a historical mystery series set in the Gilded Age, but the only one set in Newport)
• Theophilus North by Thornton Wilder
• The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton (a small portion of the novel is set in Newport)
• Tess by Antoinette Stockenberg (book 1 in a 4 books series that covers several generations of families in Newport – the By the Sea series was originally published as one book – The Challenge and the Glory)
• Amanda by Antoinette Stockenberg (book 2)
• Laura by Antoinette Stockenberg (book 3)
• The Heirs by Antoinette Stockenberg (book 4)

Have you read any of these books?

 

Copyright © 2014 by The Maiden’s Court

The Fitzgeralds in Print

Last week I spent time discussing the Fitzgeralds, Zelda and Scott, but I wanted to get a quick understanding of the books both by them and about them. So I’m sharing my findings with you for your reading pleasure – and please feel free to tell me if there are any you love or know of that I missed! I’m focusing mostly on books and collections, and not individual stories or the list would be exceptionally long since they both wrote from publications.

Books by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Novels

• This Side of Paradise
• The Beautiful and Damned
• The Great Gatsby
• Tender is the Night
• The Love of the Last Tycoon (aka: The Last Tycoon)

Short Stories and Collections

• Flappers and Philosophers
• Tales of the Jazz Age
• All the Sad Young Men
• Taps at Reveille
• Afternoon of an Author
• Babylon Revisited and Other Stories
• The Pat Hobby Stories
• The Basil and Josephine Stories
• The Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald

Books by Zelda Fitzgerald

• Save Me the Waltz

Books about Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald

Novels

• Z by Therese Anne Fowler
• Call Me Zelda by Erika Robuck
• Beautiful Fools: The Last Affair of Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald by R. Clifton Spargo
• Zelda: A Biography by Nancy Milford
• Clothes for a Summer Hotel by Tennessee Williams
• Alabama Song by Gilles Leroy

Non-Fiction/Biography

• The Far Side of Paradise by Arthur Mizener
• Beloved Infidel by Sheilah Graham (memoir by Scott’s mistress)
• The Perfect Hour: The Romance of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ginevra King by James L.W. West
• Fool For Love: F. Scott Fitzgerald by Scott Donaldson

 

Copyright © 2013 by The Maiden’s Court

Popular Culture & Philosophy Series

I was recently made aware of a series of books from Open Court Publishing called Popular Culture & Philosophy.  I found out about the series from Serena at Savvy Verse & Wit; I won a giveaway for Star Wars & Philosophy, which my boyfriend is already enjoying.  They have a massive back list and I wanted to share a few with you that might be interesting to this reading community.

• The Lord of the Rings & Philosophy: One Book to Rule Them All
• Harry Potter & Philosophy: If Aristotle Ran Hogwarts
• The Chronicles of Narnia & Philosophy: The Lion, the Witch, and the Worldview
• The Wizard of Oz & Philosophy: Wicked Wisdom of the West
• The Golden Compass & Philosophy: God Bites the Dust
• Boardwalk Empire & Philosophy (coming in 2012)

Now I know when I first saw these books were about philosophy I cringed because I was never good at understanding those Aristotelian concepts, but from what I have read and heard thus far from my boyfriend, these are written more for the everyday reader.   To take a snippet from the publishers website:

Since its inception in 2000, Open Court's Popular Culture and Philosophy® series has brought high-quality philosophy to general readers. The volumes present essays by academic philosophers exploring the meanings, concepts, and puzzles within television shows, movies, music and other icons of popular culture.

The books sound funny as well as enlightening.  For a more detailed idea as to the individual books, here is the cover blurb from The Chronicles of Narnia & Philosophy:

Here twenty-four philosophers and Narnia fans relate some of the things they have witnessed in the weird world of Narnia and the even weirder world of philosophy. Philosophy, it turns out, can be as addictive as the White Witch’s turkish delight, though hopefully not always so frustrating.

Under what conditions should we believe a story that runs counter to all our experience?  Does might make right or are there objective moral rules? Would Albert Einstein have made any sense of the claim that time can flow at different rates in different worlds? If a boy is turned into a dragon, is the dragon still the same person as the boy? Can salvation be found in many religions or only in one? Do animals—even the ones that don’t talk—have souls?

These puzzles and more are bravely attacked in The Chronicles of Narnia and Philosophy.

I’m looking forward to the Chronicles of Narnia and Wizard of Oz ones, as well as a few others that are movie or tv show related.  I encourage you to check these out and expand your horizons.  And if you have already read any of these, please leave some feedback!

 

Copyright © 2012 by The Maiden’s Court

1906 Earthquake Pictures and Books

I never realized what a wealth of photo documentation there was out there on the 1906 earthquake.  I subconsciously knew that photography had been around for several decades but never really thought about it being portable and mobile enough to get some of the amazing pictures that they did.  I put together this photo montage of images that I found - some of the fire, destruction to the buildings, people, effects of dynamiting to create firebreaks, newspaper headlines, etc.  If you are unfamiliar to the area or even if you live there, you might not recognize the locations, so where I could, I tried to label the area.  Also, turn on your speakers because I added some great "disaster" music and you might want to make it full screen to read the captions..

Now, if the video has inspired you to want to read more about the 1906 earthquake, here are some great reads:

Fiction:
Into the Firestorm: A Novel of San Francisco, 1906 by Deborah Hopkinson (YA)

Earthquake at Dawn (Great Episodes) by Kristiana Gregory (YA)

The Earth Dragon Awakes: The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 by Lawrence Yeps (YA)

1906 : A Novel by James Dalessandro

A Race to Splendor by Ciji Ware

Non-Fiction:
Three Fearful Days: San Francisco Memoirs of the 1906 Earthquake & Fire by Malcolm E. Baker

The Great Earthquake and Firestorms of 1906: How San Francisco Nearly Destroyed Itself, With a New Preface by Philip L. Fradkin

A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906 by Simon Winchester





Copyright © 2011 by The Maiden’s Court

Dust Bowl Books

The Dust Bowl of the 1930's was a terrible economic and natural disaster in the United States.  Crops were destroyed, people died, families migrated west.  This period in history has always intrigued me - to learn more about the lives of the people who had to suffer through this.  I haven't been able to find too many books about this period but I thought I would share a few with you here.  I have a review of Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse coming up later this week.

Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse (YA)
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Dust to Eat by Michael Cooper (YA)
The Journal of C.J. Jackson: A Dust Bowl Migrant – My Name is America Series (YA)
Survival in the Storm: The Dust Bowl Diary of Grace Edwards – Dear America Series (YA)
The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan

Courtesy of Chelsea

American Exodus: The Dust Bowl Migration and Okie Culture in California by James Gregory

If you have read any others and can offer recommendations or know of any others, please feel free to list them in the comments.  Thanks!



Copyright © 2011 by The Maiden’s Court

King Arthur Themed Books

I have recently found myself interested more in the King Arthur legends and was interested in what other novels there are out there - not only about him but the other characters of his time as well.  So I put together this list and thought that I would share it with you all.  Feel free to add others that you may have read in the comments or let me know which of these are good reads!

The Once and Future King – T. H. White
The Mists of Avalon – Marion Zimmer Bradley
The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights – John Steinbeck
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court – Mark Twain
Child of the Northern Spring – Persia Woolley (my review)
Queen of the Summer Stars – Persia Woolley
Guinevere: The Legend in Autumn – Persia Woolley
Guenevere, Queen of the Summer Country – Rosalind Miles
The Knight of the Sacred Lake – Rosalind Miles
Child of the Holy Grail – Rosalind Miles
The Winter King – Bernard Cornwell
Enemy of God – Bernard Cornwell
Excalibur – Bernard Cornwell
Taliesin – Stephen Lawhead
Merlin – Stephen Lawhead
Arthur – Stephen Lawhead
Pendragon – Stephen Lawhead
Grail – Stephen Lawhead
Avalon – Stephen Lawhead
I Am Morgan le Fey – Nancy Springer
The Kingmaking – Helen Hollick
Pendragon’s Banner – Helen Hollick
Shadow of the King – Helen Hollick
Sons of Avalon, Merlin’s Prophesy – Dee Marie
Isolde, Queen of the Western Isle – Rosalind Miles
The Maid of the White Hands – Rosalind Miles
The Lady of the Sea – Rosalind Miles

Courtesy of Rebecca:

The Crystal Cave - Mary Stewart
The Hollow Hills - Mary Stewart
The Last Enchantment - Mary Stewart
The Wicked Day - Mary Stewart
The Prince and the Pilgrim - Mary Stewart
Queen of Camelot - Nancy MacKenzie

Courtesy of Holly:

Gwenhwyfar - Mercedes Lackey
King Arthur: The Bloody Cup - M. K. Hume
King Arthur: Warrior of the West - M. K. Hume
King Arthur: Dragon's Child - M. K. Hume
Prophecy: A Clash of Kings - M. K. Hume
The Skystone - Jack Whyte
The Singing Sword - Jack Whyte
The Eagle's Brood - Jack Whyte
The Saxon Shore - Jack Whyte
The Fort at River's Bend - Jack Whyte
Metamorphosis: The Sorcerer - Jack Whyte
Uther - Jack Whyte
The Lance Thrower - Jack Whyte
The Eagle - Jack Whyte

Courtesy of English Rose:

The Dark is Rising - Susan Cooper (YA)
Over Sea, Under Stone - Susan Cooper (YA)
Greenwitch - Susan Cooper (YA)
The Grey King - Susan Cooper (YA)
Silver on the Tree - Susan Cooper (YA)

Courtesy of Lieder Madchen:

Hawk of May - Gillian Bradshaw
Kingdom of Summer - Gillian Bradshaw
In Winter's Shadow - Gillian Bradshaw
The Squire's Tale - Gerald Morris (YA)
The Squire, His Knight, and His Lady - Gerald Morris (YA)
The Savage Damsel and the Dwarf - Gerald Morris (YA)
Parsifal's Page - Gerald Morris (YA)
The Ballad of Sir Dinadin - Gerald Morris (YA)
The Princess, the Crone, and the Dung-Cart Knight - Gerald Morris (YA)
The Lioness and her Knight - Gerald Morris (YA)
The Quest of the Fair Unknown - Gerald Morris (YA)
The Squire's Quest - Gerald Morris (YA)
The Legend of the King - Gerald Morris (YA)
The Adventures of Sir Lancelot the Great - Gerald Morris (YA)
The Adventures of Givret the Short - Gerald Morris (YA)
The Adventures of Sir Gawain the True - Gerald Morris (YA)
In Camelot's Shadow - Sarah Zettel
For Camelot's Honor - Sarah Zettel
Under Camelot's Banner - Sarah Zettel
Camelot's Blood - Sarah Zettel
The Killing Way - Tony Hays
The Divine Sacrifice - Tony Hays
The Beloved Dead - Tony Hays

Courtesy of xo.sorcha.ox:

Twilight of Avalon - Anna Elliott
Dark Moon of Avalon - Anna Elliott
Sunrise of Avalon - Anna Elliott
Dawn of Avalon - Anna Elliott
The Witch Queen's Secret - Anna Elliott

Thank you everyone for your suggestions!




Copyright © 2011 by The Maiden’s Court