May 9, 2010

History? BO-ring.

If you had asked me last year what I thought of history (in general) or historical fiction I would have gagged without further explanation. I was one of those (ignorant) people who think that history is for freaks and old people who "like" it because they are "in" it. Guess why I'm such a huge dystopian fan?
But now I feel like I just discovered the world. The sudden change was because I took a (required) course in college about American History and finally got an excellent teacher. Never mind that I almost flunked-- the class is crazy-difficult-- because the lectures were mesmerizing. It made me want to haunt down all of my previous professors that made me yawn more than ever, to show them how it's done. (I had never taken American History before though, due to the fact that I just moved here 2 years ago.)

With that said, I am looking for cool people who will let me know which moments in history they find particularly interesting, which books (preferably YA) or movies contain great historical fiction (American) or maybe interesting non-fiction (I'm willing to give it a try) and what history classes have you taken that you thought were really cool. I specially loved Colonial period and the Civil War. I'm even thinking of minoring in History (crazzzy right?) but I'm already minoring in English so I don't know how that would work. Anyhow, all comments are greatly appreciated :)

Posts to check out:

5 comments:

  1. YAY! I'm a history major and I've never understood why people hate history but I've been very lucky to have good teachers-they make such a big difference! And the two time periods you mentioned are my favorites too! Anyway I have a few recommendations:

    For YA HF: Ann Rinaldi has written a variety of books covering different time periods. I remember reading "Time Enough for Drums" about the American Revolution and "The Last Silk Dress" and "In My Father's House" about the Civil War. I enjoyed them but I haven't read them in a while so I can't be more detailed. I'm also pretty sure I read "Annie, Between the States" by LM Elliott but I can't remember anything about it. Another book that is on my list to read is "Two Girls of Gettysburg" by Lisa Klein. I also recommend "Chains" by Laurie Halse Anderson about a slave girl during the American Revolution and "Fever 1793" about the yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia.

    Non-fiction about the Civil War (I took a class this semester and these were my favorites): "Mothers of Invention" by Drew Gilpin Faust examining upper class white women during the war; "The Radical and the Republican" by James Oakes about Douglass and Lincoln; "Out of the House of Bondage" by Thavolia Glymph, about relations between slave mistresses and house slaves; and "Soul by Soul" by Walter Johnson about the slave market.

    Movies: "Glory" (Civil War); "The Patriot" (American Revolution)

    Hope this gives you some ideas! And yay for history!

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  2. I LOVE Historical fiction!! I haven't read any in awhile but it is definitely one of my favorite genres. It seems like the historical that I always end up reading aren't about American history lol.I've read a lot of Philippa Gregory. Her books about the Tudors are mesmerizing! I only have one suggestion and it's not YA and the series doesn't start out in America, The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. It starts out in Scotland but by the third book, I think, they are in America around the time of the Revolutionary War. These books are truly epic. Its one of my favorite series, if not my favorite. And I don't throw that word around lightly. I hope hope you give them a try....Oh and they are really looong but so worth it!

    I'm going to add Stephanie's suggestions to my TBR! And The Patriot is a great movie!

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  3. Oh, I’m so glad you had a teacher who did the topic justice. I studied American History in University and have a specialization in African American History. The above books are all great; I would add Bruce Catton’s Civil War to the adult non-fiction section.

    You might enjoy Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson, it is about a young slave girl during the American Revolution. Its part of a series and it is especially well written.

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  4. I love historical fiction, especially if it's set in World War Two. I don't know if you'd be interested in reading that, but if you are, I can give you a list of YA! :)

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  5. I have not really gotten into historical fiction. I plan on trying though.

    You have an award on my blog here.

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