Historical fiction for middle-grade readers

You might recall that I’ve written two novels for my grandsons – the first, The Magical Tree, was written in 2022 when the older boys were 6 and 8; the second, A King’s Knight, which includes a third grandson (16 months at launch time), became a 2024 Christmas gift.

I was accustomed to writing adult historical fiction and its techniques for transporting readers in time and place. Would writing for middle-grade children be the same? Here are a few things I’ve learned.

Choosing a time period

The Magical Tree is set in 1775 just as the American Revolution launched. The boys suddenly travel back in time and find themselves on a British ship with a mission to defend Britain’s interests in the Colonies. When I landed on that time period (having considered several others), I reasoned that the revolution was a seminal event in America’s history which every young American citizen should learn about. I felt the boys were old enough to appreciate the seriousness of the conflict and the interests of both sides.

Beyond that, the setting provided an opportunity to place them in a unique environment involving daring feats and heroic actions.

For A King’s Knight, I chose the reign of King Henry VII because my younger grandson asked for a story about “knights and castles”. I chose Henry VII because I wanted a medieval time period that didn’t go too far back into the middle ages – as someone who writes historical fiction about more recent times (think WWI), I was worried about my ability to find sources of information. Happily, author friends provided excellent guidance and the research was not too much of a problem.

Each time period provided an opportunity to learn without it seeming like a history lesson.

Creating roles they can identify with

Children love to imagine themselves in a story – don’t we all? So it’s important to create roles that are novel, challenging, fun, and authentic to the time period.

In The Magical Tree, each boy was given a role on board the British sailing ship. I researched the possibilities and found many sources to explain the duties that boys as young as seven (!!) would undertake on 18th century frigates. (Clearly child labour laws were not in effect.) I also made each of my grandsons a year older than their actual ages which meant that they could stretch their imagination. So the nine-year-old character had duties such as climbing the rigging to stand in the crow’s nest and watch for enemy ships, while the seven-year-old was the military captain’s servant. Both boys had other duties like peeling potatoes, swabbing the decks, and clearing the officers’ tables after meals. Each role allowed them to learn about the times.

In A King’s Knight, I indulged in a bit of fantasy to go along with the already fantastical notion of time travel and created a winged beast called Drac who flew missions under the king’s direction – King Henry VII. My younger grandson (not the toddler but the now 8-year-old) learned to fly this winged beast and to communicate with him. This important role was ultimately crucial to a battle that became a significant part of the story. The older grandson learned to handle a sword and other weapons and also became an accomplished horseman. He also had a chance to prove himself on the battlefield. Even the toddler had a small but important role to play.

Action, action, action

Middle-grade children want action at every turn in a story. That means designing a plot with tension building on nearly every page and with frequent climactic events. When outlining – something I do with every novel – I paid particular attention to putting my grandsons in challenging and often dangerous situations. Similarly, their quest to return home, which is central to both novels, also drives the plot.

Beyond the need for action, weave in a dash of heroism as well as an important mission to challenge your characters.

And don’t forget suspense! Critical points of suspense – will he/won’t he, does she/doesn’t she – fuel a plot and create dilemmas for your young characters to resolve. Of course, these dilemmas must reflect the time period. For that matter, coping with the time period can be a dilemma in itself!

Setting is a vehicle for learning history

Setting delivers history. And there are so many aspects of setting to consider – . With children’s fiction I recommend being selective in order not to overwhelm your young readers. In The Magical Tree I have the boys explore an 18th century frigate, hear unusual language, wear homespun garments, heft a slop bucket, eat strange foods like burgum, and so on.

Similarly, in A King’s Knight the boys are awed by the majesty of King Henry’s court, cross over a drawbridge while riding on horseback, climb the thick stone steps of a palace, watch people eat with their fingers, sit in an 18th century kitchen, and play a lute.

Other posts on setting:

• Why is setting important to historical fiction?
• Setting is like an iceberg

Themes that resonate

On BookBaby, I found an article listing seven common themes for children’s novels: friendship, self-discovery, self-expression, self-acceptance, overcoming challenges, growing up, life at school. A site called Writers Write describes 10 powerful, recurring themes: courage, friendship, belonging, family, loss, growing up, anger, suffering, jealousy, love.

These universal themes apply equally to historical fiction. The caveat I would add is that each theme needs to be interpreted according to the norms and attitudes of your chosen time period.

Dialogue

People of the past spoke differently and used unfamiliar words. Using such words sparingly (as you do in adult historical fiction) gives the reader a feeling of being in the past without the burden of too many strange words or constructs.

A few examples from The Magical Tree:

• “Bring them all to my cabin at eight bells sharp.”
• “I’m thinking you’ll make a good powder monkey.”
• “This is the orlop deck.”

And a few from A King’s Knight:

• “Master Frye will cane us if we’re late.”
• “The queen, whose hair was covered by a jeweled hood, walked beside the king.”
• “This is a butler,” he said. “It’s not large, but used well, it will protect you in a sword fight.”

Often the characters involved ask for an explanation which allows for readers to learn a little more history.

Further Sources

Children – just like adults – enjoy suspense and problem solving. They love adventure, mystery, discovery, daring, novelty, and humour. For more ideas, have a look at these brief articles:

• Christopher Edge writes about plotting and pacing in middle-grade novels. “Stories are about change and change is driven by character. Examining your protagonist’s motives can help you to build your plot, as you consider the actions they might pursue as they try to attain their goal.”
• Claire Povey provides a few thoughts on dialogue in middle-grade historical fiction. “I wanted to write conversations that would play out between kids today. Obviously, I knew not to drop a ‘so cool!’ or a ‘wicked awesome’ into the dialogue between my characters.”
• Shelley Jones offers tips on writing historical fiction for children. “I therefore take comfort in the thought that to take a child back 500 years to the Tudor court places them in a setting so fantastical that there should be huge scope to fire the imagination and spirit them away to another world.” She has written two other articles one here where she makes the point that “fiction makes history accessible” and another here.
• Ashley Hope Perez offers more tips like “anchor your scenes with particulars” and “translate history into drama”.

By the way, writing these novels has been a real joy for me. Not only am I creating something for my grandsons, but I’m also learning along the way.

FOR MORE ON READING & WRITING HISTORICAL FICTION  FOLLOW A WRITER OF HISTORY. There’s a SUBSCRIBE function on the right hand side of the page. 

M.K. Tod writes historical fiction. Her latest novel THAT WAS THEN is a contemporary thriller. Mary’s other novels, THE ADMIRAL’S WIFE, PARIS IN RUINS, TIME AND REGRET, LIES TOLD IN SILENCE and UNRAVELLED are available from Amazon, Nook, Kobo, Google Play and iTunes. She can be contacted on her website www.mktod.com or by leaving a comment.