Tandem Insights

Fiction Based on Fact

Sometimes the best stories don’t come entirely from a writer’s imagination.  They come from history.  Fact-based fiction remains a popular choice with many teens for its element of truth while still telling a good story.  Here are a couple of ideas why and examples of titles that fit the bill for your teens who can’t get enough fact-based fiction:

Fact-based fiction is a welcome departure from textbook study as YA readers are looking for other ways to learn about major historical events and other curricular areas of study.  Letters From a Slave Girl: The Story of Harriet Jacobs by Mary Lyons, which relates a fictionalized version of the life of Harriet Jacobs, is told in the form of letters that she might have written during her slavery in North Carolina as she prepares for escape to the North in 1842.

YA readers are increasingly interested in books with intense and emotional past and present events.  Fact-based fiction can provide a more intimate connection to the people involved.  Run, Boy, Run by Uri Orlev is a good example of this as it is based on the true story of a nine-year-old boy who escapes the Warsaw Ghetto and must survive throughout the war in the Nazi-occupied Polish countryside.

When fact-based research provides a solid foundation for a book, couple it with a story in the language, as well as political and cultural climate of the time, and the past comes alive.  This up-close and engaging view challenges YA readers to think “outside the box” and see the world beyond their daily dealings.  Iqbal by Francesco D'Adamo is a great example of a fictionalized account that can help teens cultivate a global perspective.  This story of a Pakistani child who escaped from bondage in a carpet factory and went on to help liberate other children like him before being gunned down at the age of thirteen may make the world a bigger place for many teens who aren’t familiar with life in that part of the world.

All types of fiction, including fact-based fiction, can be a form of escapism.  Loving Will Shakespeare by Carolyn Meyer tells of the passion and romance between the world’s most famous playwright and the woman who risked everything to be with him.  A great choice for your teens who love historical romance or who are fans of the bard.

Check out this list of Fiction Based on Fact with the titles mentioned above and more for your MS and HS students.

Biographies for Teens

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.  And these biographies prove it.  Don’t let your teens be satisfied with any old bio that has over 100 pages.  Convince your teens that biographies don’t have to be boring. 

Start with a familiar name.  YA author Chris Crutcher has written his childhood into a book, King of the Mild Frontier.  Fans of his fiction will not want to miss this inside scoop and those who are looking for a funny story will also find themselves hooked into this bittersweet biography.

Then move on to a memoir of a regular girl.  Grief Girl by Erin Vincent is written like a novel with the present tense prose making the story feel immediate even though it all took place back in 1983 when Erin’s parents both died within a week of each other when she was fourteen.  Brutally honest and ultimately uplifting, this memoir is not to be missed.

A great biography is also a great story.  Check out these great life stories for your middle and high school students.