Twho Historical Novels

msheald · Joined: 08 Jul 2007 Posts: 34

Hello! I recently read two historical novels after seeing them recommended by Sandra Scofield in her book, The Scene Book, as a way to see how authors used scenes in their stories.
Both would be considered young adult literature, though I found both enjoyable reading, not at all like other YA novels I've read.
The first, Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy, is about the destruction of an island community of poor blacks off the coast of Maine in 1912 as seen through the eyes of a minister's son who just moved to the community and who befriends a black girl from the island. I found the book renjoyable because there was a touch of magic realism thrown in. Additonally, the minister's son doesn't see the world in black and white, but at the end of the story, he comes to see the world in a more nuanced and adult way.
The second, Catherine, Called Birdy, is about the life of a teenage girl in thirteenth century England who tries to avoid the marriages being arranged for her. As a result, the characters correspond to older young adults in today's world because young teens don't marry in our society. It is written as a diary, and the reflections on the life at the time are at times sad, but usually funny. Best regards.

Michael A. Heald