I love historical fiction. Of all the genres, that's probably my favorite and these two new ones might show you why.
The first one is called Ming's Christmas Wishes by Susan Gong. It's about Ming, who has three Christmas wishes. She wants to sing in the Christmas Choir, she wants to have a Christmas tree, and she wants to feel like she belongs. But as the child of Chinese immigrants in 1930's California, discrimination was common and traditional Chinese families didn't really have Christmas trees. Ming's dad takes her to into the mountains to visit an old friend and helps Ming accept who she is and who her family is. The art work in this one is warm and luminous and really helps the connect the holiday feeling around the cold hard facts of discrimination and racism that many families feel. This a good story to talk about our own family traditions and how we might be more accepting of others.
The second one is called Just Like That by Gary D. Schmidt. Schmidt is pretty famous for writing historical fiction and this one is a great one to add to the list. It's about Meryl Lee who is reeling from the death of her best friend in a tragic car accident. Meryl Lee's parents decide to send her away to boarding school, in hopes that a fresh start will bring her back from her terrible depression. It doesn't start off well. Her roommate is a snob and something of a bully. The other girls seem to work hard to try to impress each other by oneupmanship on travel and jewelry and clothing. Meryl Lee connects more with the girls who are working as junior members of the staff to defray their educational expenses, but being friends with those girls isn't without peril either. At the same time, a boy is living a Dickensian kind of life-his parents have disappeared and he's something like adopted by an Artful Dodger character who teaches him to steal and demands that he share the profits. Until a kind boy comes to join them but when something awful happens to his friend Georgie, Matt goes on the run. Eventually the two characters cross paths in a most charming and wonderful way. There's a bit of a mystery revolving around several of the characters that unravels at different paces, which is part of the charm of the book. The story is set in 1968 and 1969 which gives an interesting cultural backdrop to the book, without really being the story. I thought this one was great and I think the middle grade kids are going to love these characters.
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