Review by Booklist Review
Adamson returns to historical fiction, this time with an annotated bibliography for grades 1-10. (Her Reference Guide to Historical Fiction for Children and Young Adults [Greenwood, 1987] profiled 80 authors of historical fiction and their works.) "The 970 works selected are insightful, historically accurate, and for the most part, well written. At least 200 are award winners." The first two chapters cover "Prehistory and the Ancient World" and the "Roman Empire to 476 A.D." The remaining chapters switch to a geographic approach: Europe, South and Central America and the Caribbean, Africa, China, etc. Each of these chapters is subdivided by time period and then arranged alphabetically by author. Bibliographic information and an annotation are given for each work. The annotations try to incorporate date; setting; "a description of the protagonist according to age, sex, and situation"; and a statement about the theme. Seven appendixes and an author-illustrator-title index complete the volume. The appendixes include an index of titles by readability and interest levels; a list of works with protagonists of or plots concerning minority groups; famous groups and people in the works; works with sequels, same characters, or in series; and country and date of setting in Europe. Though she discusses the historical fiction genre in an introductory essay, Adamson never really sets forth her criteria for inclusion. Lacking a clear statement, questions arise about the omission of such titles as Mazer's The Last Mission, Lunn's The Root Cellar, and Uris' Mila 18, as well as classics such as The Scarlet Pimpernel. As might be expected, books on the American colonies and the U.S. dominate the guide. While copyright dates from earlier in this century appear, most are from the late 1970s through early 1994. This book belongs on all professional shelves in elementary through high schools where it will help identify sequels and aid in collection building. As always with a well-done bibliography, there's the joy of meeting old friends as well as the challenge of attempting to identify those books omitted. (Reviewed November 1, 1994)
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
