Posts Tagged with historical ficiton

The Boy Witch and The Queen of Scots (Blog Tour)

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I was super excited to be asked to take part in author Barbara Henderson’s latest blog tour. Thanks so much to publisher Luath Press Ltd for a copy of the book.  I had the huge privilege to participate in Barbara’s blog tour for her first historical fiction book Fir for Luck back in 2016, and then for several other books since.
The Boy, the Witch and the Queen of Scots is an eye opening insight into the turbulent period when Mary Queen of Scotts was Queen of Scotland. It begins when she arrives back in Scotland, at the port of Leith in 1561, when she was 18 years old. 

The story draws you in from the very first chapter

The story is told from the unique perspective of Alexander Buchan, a 12 year old falconer. The reader is hooked in from the very beginning as the young man is sent to the docks to collect something, but then through the mist sees the returning Queen’s ship arriving. 
“But then, something catches my eye: a fainter shade of grey, a vessel less defined but sailing into port. No there are two, two galleys, and fine ones at that, though their bright paint work is fog muted..” P12
Alex is the one that alerts others to the arrival of the Queen’s ship (which has arrived a week earlier than expected). But the reader gets alerted to the suggestion that it’s the last thing he wanted, and there is some reason he needs to stay hidden. A terrific way to start a story, which will really draw young readers in.

An fantastic introduction to the conflicts of Tutor Scotland

Soon Alex is send to the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, to assist Mr Kerr, the chief falconer to the Queen. Alex finds himself caught in the middle of the religious wars of the turbulent Tudor era, in which Nobels plot and scheme for power, willing to murder to ensure the religion (Catholic or Protestant) they owe allegiance becomes the dominant one in Scottish politics. Alex has to wrestle with right and wrong. Trying to hold his master the Early of Huntly and the more sister villain of ‘The Cloak’, at bay. He is assisted by a young girl Lizzie, who is employed as a Seamstress for the Queen. 
I highly recommend this book for children aged 9 to 13 years, though many older teenagers and adults with an interest in Scottish history would love it too.

Researching periods of history, reading around the topic

I loved reading this story, as I have several of her other Scottish historical adventures. Barbara has developed a real skill at researching periods of history, as part of the writing process and then identifying a young protagonist from which to tell the story and give a unique perspective on history. 
I was fascinated to read Lucas Maxwell, a librarian in a secondary school interview with Barbara for the Boy the Witch and the Queen blog Tour and have quoted a little piece from it below:
“I immersed myself in reading about the Queen best known for the tragic fate. Reading around the topic without as specific agenda can really help to distill a story.”

Educational resources

Barbara Henderson has created some fabulous teaching resources to go with her book, they can be viewed on her website, see the link at the bottom of this post. This would be a wonderful book to share in the classroom, Barbara has used her expertise as writer and drama teacher in primary schools to give you a wealth of resources to help create rich learning opportunities with this book in the classroom. These resources include:
    • The book has in the endnotes a glossary, historical timeline, and index of people and places
    • The education resources, include a chapter by chapter guide. See the example from chapter 8 below. Which opens up many possibilities to explore the reformation, conflicts between Catholics and Protestants, but also to widen the debate to a broader discussion about ‘sectarianism’. 
    • Events boxes to cut and and arrange in date order
    •   Drawing on her experience as a drama teacher, there are also some great drama based ideas to help students draw out knowledge and understanding from the text. I particular like the idea of freeze framing key events in the story (Photo Story Comic).

You can view and download the  educational resource pack for The Boy Witch and The Queen of Scots here

Do check out the other posts on the Blog Tour below. 
 

Darwin’s Dragon by Lindsay Galvin

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I loved reading Darwin’s Dragon, one of my most anticipated books of the year which has finally arrived. My daughters a big fan of Lindsay Galvin’s the Secret of the Deep, so I was expecting great things. It didn’t disappoint. 

The story begins in 1835. It’s about what could have happened during one of Darwin’s expeditions to the Galapagos Islands.  It is written from the perspective of Syms Covington. Who first joined Darwins ship the Beagle, as a cabin boy and a fiddler. He then worked his way up to become Darwin’s assistant. With short chapters, and plenty of nail-biting action there is lot’s to draw readers in. 

The story is a most intriguing and unique combination of historical fiction, weird and wonderful detail on the animals and habitats of the Galapagos, and fantasy (a real life Dragon). There is a survival theme running through the story. To begin with is is how Sym survives on an uninhabited island and later it’s about the lizard.  

In chapter 2 Syms rescues Darwin from the sea, but is then swept away and is washed up on a strange uninhabited island. On the island he is befriended by a lizard, who he names Farthing after his copper coloured eyes. She helps him survive on the island and escape the dragon. 

I found some of part 2 harder to read. I think at that point I was still getting my head round there only being one human character and lots of the weird landscape of the Galapagos which is so well portrayed in Lindsays writing. If using in the classroom some real pictures of the Galapagos might help. I mention this as some readers may benefit from being read the beginning of part 2 as they will love the next bit. 

I loved how Syms fiddle features in his survival story, and serves as a tool to introduce us to some of his back history and to help him survive the present. And the clever placing of the objects in the cave, which helped Syms and the eggs to escape the island was really clever storytelling, which could be used to help children write their own stories.

After Syms is rescued, Darwin’s ship makes its voyage back to London.  In London we get to find out more about Farthing, the lizard and the dragons eggs. We also see Syms taking on a role in looking out for Farthing.  There is also a great fictional connection to Queen Victoria.

The story covers a number of years in Darwins’s life, not just his expedition to Galapagos. With insights into the collating and publishing of his work on evolution in London, and the need for him to stay away from additional controversy as his ideas on the Origin of the Species were controversial enough at the time.  Finally a the end Syms re-visits the island with one of his daughters.

Cleverly interweaving real facts and information with action packed adventure, and fantasy and cleverly twisted facts to create believable fiction this is not to be missed.  A story that will keep you in the moment and which you will want to re-visit. Highly recommend for 9/10+ to 99 years. 

Thank you to the publishers Chicken House books for a free advance copy.

 

Darwins’s Dragons is published on 7th January 2021. Available to pre-order from me an independent bookseller at Readers that Care. In a special 2 book bundle, choose 2nd book from a selection of over 20 titles.